Kill Your TV and Save Your Life

Reprinted. Desperate problems require desperate solutions.

Perhaps one day we might actually consider something so desperate as quitting Television, and by doing so, destroying the DNC's voter outreach arm (aka Television).

...

I feel so hopeless about the political situation I've begun looking for Hail Mary solutions.

When a problem seems impossible so solve, Donald Rumsfeld said, expand it.

We all know what the expanded version of the problem is: The problem is that we live in, as Andrew Breitbart called it, a "Matrix" of leftist assumptions and propaganda, all being delivered to us 24/7 by a wireless intravenous drip system called television.

I've been thinking a lot about this. I've been thinking it's time to actually do something.

Just an idea, but I would like to start thinking seriously about delivering a truly grievous wound to the Political-Entertainment Complex.

I'm thinking about, firstly, stopping watching almost TV entirely and shedding cable stations. (Some cut the cable entirely.)

I say "almost entirely" because people are so addicted to TV at this point that I think it seems as hard to quit TV as it is to quit smoking. (By the way: It's easy to quit smoking.)

So let's throw in the "almost" caveat there and think about it like this: If I write down all the shows I watch, I think I'll be embarrassed and sad to see how many hours I sit as a voluntary, unmoving, passive spectator, watching other people perform Shows and other people perform in Sports and other people doing things.

Now, in this list, I happen to know that a lot of shows I don't particularly love. I either stopped enjoying them some time ago, or I never really enjoyed them.

Now there will probably be some shows I will want to watch. Okay, I'll make this deal with myself: I'll let myself watch 2-3 hours a tv a week if I get rid of all that very marginal shit I'm watching and use the time for something more constructive. Like reading, or spending actual human time with family and friends, or anything.

Literally doing anything is more worthy than sitting in front of the Idiot Box to be anaesthetized and hypnotized by stupefying beams of leftism. *

There is a reason this country is in terrible shape. It's because it's people have become slack in their thinking. Lazy. Stupid.

And right in front of me is a big 47" rectangular pill that makes people complacent, fat, unhealthy, dumb, disconnected from humanity, and disinterested in their own futures, nevermind their country's.

It seems to me the best solutions are the ones that solve multiple problems simultaneously.

One problem -- for me; maybe your own mileage varies -- is that TV makes it very easy to waste your life. It's a kind of death-before-death. We dream seven hours a night; do we have to also sit before a dreaming box and watch other people's dreams another three hours a day?

The other problem, of course, is that the Media is, as Andrew Breitbart always says, the Matrix, poisoning our minds with stupid, lazy, obese thinking, and they do so via the most effective means of transmitting stupidity, venality, and moral emptiness: The television.

And we will live in the Matrix until we destroy the Matrix.

So my idea is to start, as a movement, boycotting tv almost entirely, picking up, get this, new skills and hobbies and interests to fill the time we would otherwise be spending in front of the Radioactive Drug of the television screen.

Joining book clubs. Going on walks with our (get this) spouses and kids. Even doing "nerdy" stuff like bird watching, which, quite frankly, seems a whole lot more vital and vigorous than watching the shit they've thrown together to assassinate our brains tonight.

And we get used to watching ever less tv as we count down to next Fall, which is when we will really get serious about this, and watch virtually nothing, almost nothing at all, and not a single of the Terrific New Timewasting Shows they've made for us, for about three months.

And maybe this would be the moment to Cut All The Cables.

The pain we can inflict on Them (and yes, I'm comfortable calling them Them) is considerable.

But even more important than that, I think: We will not just be liberating the nation -- maybe -- but definitely liberating ourselves.

We all know what the problem is, but we're not actually doing anything about.

I think our nation has become very, very complacent and lazy. I cannot imagine people living a hundred years ago putting up with this bullshit so willingly.

We have become very Manageable.

I do not think Americans were made to be so Manageable.

And I think we're making ourselves Manageable by living the life of a Do-Nothing for so many of our free hours.

TV makes it easy to Do Nothing. It makes it easy to be bored. TV is not horrible-- don't get me wrong. It's occasionally funny or interesting. It could not draw so many of us to be voluntary prisoners to it every night if it were horrible.

But it is always a suboptimal choice. Whenever the TV is the main focus, that is a suboptimal choice made as to how to spend that hour.

Oh, I don't mean when the TV is on in background as one folds clothes. In that case, sure, one needs a distraction from the mindless work.

But most times, we could be spending those hours mindfully, and instead we're sitting glassy eyed and slack-jawed looking at glowing box of moving pictures.

Virtually any moment spent in front of the TV is a defeat.

When we were kids, not a one of us thought about the lives we would live when we were adults and thought, "Some nights, I swear, I'm gonna just come home from work and then watch five hours of TV straight!! Whoopee!!"

TV is compromise, TV is defeat, TV is acceptance, TV is mediocrity.

And it's an industry held almost entirely in Enemy Hands, by the idiot descendants of carnival-barkers and pornographers who just happened to realize that every new technology which permits people to live less life will be a financial winner.

We can free ourselves and maybe, even, free this country.

We can Kill The Messenger.

* Except Andy Levy.

The NDH Challenge. Niedermeyer's Dead Horse suggested starting small.

So I'm going to start small: Three days, through Tuesday, of no tv, with the one exception of French news, and that's not really watching TV. That's like homework, because I haven't kept up with it lately and my highly-perishable comprehension skills are slipping.

I mean come on -- you know watching the news in a language you barely understand is not the sort of passive thing I'm talking about.

But if you still say "that's cheating, Ace," fine, if you want, go ahead, assign yourself your own 2 hours of exception time tv.

Let's kill the fucking television this weekend, and let's see if our lives are any worse for having done so.

Posted by: Ace at 08:20 PM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Obligatory first.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 08:23 PM (0NdlF)

2 Corgis summoned.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 08:23 PM (0NdlF)

3 Funny, sitting in front of a monitor reading AoSHQ is not exactly vital to the future either.

But it is entertaining!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:23 PM (ftVQq)

4 Did it years ago. Haven't looked back.

Posted by: BNJ at April 03, 2015 08:24 PM (72VKY)

5 Hrothgar,
It's so entertaining I've been here over four, closer to five hours.

I'm leaving for the night now!

Ace,
Have a good weekend!

Posted by: Carol at April 03, 2015 08:25 PM (sj3Ax)

6 But I like some TV. I can't go to sleep without the Hitler Channel droning on.

Posted by: freaked at April 03, 2015 08:25 PM (JdEZJ)

7 I can give up everything but Bar Rescue.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at April 03, 2015 08:26 PM (ZbCKc)

8 I did it a few years ago. Remember the old song," 57 channels and nothing on"? It's worse now. Hundreds of channels.
You might be surprised how quickly you find other things to actually stimulate your mind. Books !

Posted by: David at April 03, 2015 08:26 PM (AThvu)

9 I haven't had cable since 1994. Anything you might want to watch is on Netflix, Hulu, or iTunes.

Posted by: Ponydaemmerung at April 03, 2015 08:26 PM (aUgP1)

10 I'd rather spend time with the Horde. With Slacker in the background.

But. But. Sports. I can do without Boob Costas too.

Vic's got it right.

Posted by: Golfman at April 03, 2015 08:26 PM (48QDY)

11
So, what's Ace trying to tell us? He's going out tonite? He's got a date? With a real live girl???

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 03, 2015 08:27 PM (iQIUe)

12 Free your mind from the Cause-Heads

Posted by: Yes means Maybe at April 03, 2015 08:27 PM (7wyDO)

13 Moar podcasts.

Posted by: Golfman at April 03, 2015 08:28 PM (48QDY)

14 TV=Intellectual equivalent of junk food

You can feed your body crap and become a Disgusting Fatbody, or worse you can feed your mind garbage and become a vapid intellectually bankrupt Democrat voter

Posted by: kilo6 at April 03, 2015 08:28 PM (1LGiv)

15 A little mood music:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyrI90k1NJw

Posted by: The Televised Hat at April 03, 2015 08:28 PM (0Ew3K)

16 There is a reason this country is in terrible shape. It's because it's people have become slack in their thinking. Lazy. Stupid.

Yes. If the U.S. Americans just had better maps, this wouldn't happen.

Posted by: Miss Teen U.S. America at April 03, 2015 08:28 PM (Dwehj)

17 I put Levin on at 6 & then knew it is Passover & listened to March 20 podcast.

I've got three mote to listen to.

Posted by: Carol at April 03, 2015 08:28 PM (sj3Ax)

18 Excellent, Ace. I quit watching several years ago and I haven't missed it. Whenever I want to see something I can almost always find it free on the net--commercial free.

Posted by: Cloyd Freud, Unemployed at April 03, 2015 08:29 PM (lG2E3)

19 Well I did try to read Ulysses to put me to sleep and that works pretty good. I got bored re-reading the first page every night though.

Posted by: freaked at April 03, 2015 08:29 PM (JdEZJ)

20 Welcome to the party, Pal.

Posted by: Socratease at April 03, 2015 08:29 PM (82qVG)

21 I do watch The Walking Dead online...but I could stop anytime I wanted to. My old neighborhood is beginning to resemble it.

Posted by: David at April 03, 2015 08:29 PM (AThvu)

22 Can't say I watch a lot of TV. More often just have the TV on while I'm doing something else.

Listen to the radio more than anything else.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 08:29 PM (SFPWo)

23 I used to want to kill my TV every time B.O. gave a speech, but now I just switch to South Park re-runs.

Posted by: wth at April 03, 2015 08:30 PM (wAQA5)

24 "Stop walking through other people's museums! Create your own museum!"

(Except for Jay Leno's car museum. That's cool as hell.)

Posted by: Adam Carolla at April 03, 2015 08:30 PM (ZsN9X)

25 I don't waste my life staring at a TV.

I am usually here staring at AoS

Posted by: JohnnyBoy at April 03, 2015 08:30 PM (KG0mU)

26 Actually, for several reasons, I essentially decided to stop watching all TV and movies last spring. My only exception was to go see "American Sniper" in the theater. I can't honestly say my life has taken a turn for the better but, I read more, I walk more, I kick the dogs less, and I have had my grand-kids over to help do a few necessary outdoor activities.

Full disclosure, I do still curse the day Obama was born (wherever that was) every day. All in all, it's a positive experience.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:31 PM (ftVQq)

27 We just canceled cable. Didn't watch it much, anyway, and when we feel like it, antena's more fun.

Posted by: Tattoo De Plane at April 03, 2015 08:31 PM (Y92Nd)

28 I'd have to figure out netflix, hulu, amazon prime first so dad could keep entertained. I pretty much waste my time on internet and would barely miss TV even with zero replacements but he pays for satellite tv and watches a lot.

Posted by: PaleRider at April 03, 2015 08:31 PM (dkExz)

29 You.....haven't heard of Roku, Ace?

Areyoufukkinkiddinme?

Posted by: bigpinkfluffybunny at April 03, 2015 08:31 PM (h8UWI)

30 Worked for Keef. Everybody thought he'd go years ago.

https://youtu.be/SOA3cJ8Y2As

Posted by: BuddyPC at April 03, 2015 08:31 PM (jfUIE)

31 My wife and I haven't watched TV for more than seven years. But then I went and won a 42" 3D television. Since then Ive bought a smart blue ray.
Don't know if I need more.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 03, 2015 08:32 PM (4+sJl)

32 Disagree. TV for me is a information infusion machine. I thrive on learning about things and I think TV is one of the most efficient tools to do this if you know how to separate the chafe from the wheat.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 08:32 PM (sIhFA)

33 Does this mean I have to give up Baseball?

Posted by: Angel fan at April 03, 2015 08:32 PM (WNERA)

34 Well I did try to read Ulysses to put me to sleep and that works pretty good. I got bored re-reading the first page every night though.

Try Moby Dick.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (ZbCKc)

35 Wait....we're gonna do this right before opening day of baseball?

The problem is...it's not US that needs to stop watching TV. Hell, a lot of people here either already stopped or selectively watch anyway.

Posted by: Tami at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (v0/PR)

36 I don't have cable but I watch tv when I want. I read books when I want. They mostly swap out for each other as entertainment.

Posted by: Lea at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (vmMMi)

37 Anime I can stream shows that are Similcast in Japan, they are non PC which is great. Hell one show, the guy's super powers is gotten by feeling chicks up. They wouldn't make a show like that here.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (CxEX+)

38 Quit in '73 at the tender age of 13, started watching occasional cable movies in the mid-80s, then quit again altogether. Now I've begun watch old movies, mostly from the 40s and 50s - family members insist on having DirecTV - but that is all. No news, no sitcoms, no garbage. When people find that out and look at me like I'm an antisocial weirdo it makes me feel proud and ever-so-slightly superior. Eff the talkin' picher box.

Posted by: Xavier at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (MB7G/)

39 I see Ace you're coming to the same conclusion I have over the last few days of this nightmare. My sanity at the very least requires I unplug from the culture. I'm just going around mad all the time, and now, with this latest, I'm going to go crazy.

I won't give up TV completely. There's MeTV for instance, playing old shows that operated in the universe that was the America I knew and was raised in, not this lunatic asylum that is has become. I'm amazed at just how fucking fast this descent has happened. What was unthinkable 20 years ago when I was in my 20s, hell 10 years ago, is now the norm.

It is the media-academe axis.

Read the "The Second COming" by William Butler Yeats. It describes the current state perfectly. The center will not hold. The best among us lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity. What rough Beast, it's time come round at last, slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? That verse captures it perfectly.

I wish someone would hurry up and invent Warp Drive (if possible at all, unfortunately it is likely millennia off the future), so I could resettle on some unconquered planet and start over. I try to create what the Founders did, and think long and hard about what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.

If there were some place to go, some undiscovered country, I'd go in a heart beat. I'd leave everything material I've amassed behind. I'd rather live in a primitive shack in the America of our Founders, than like Bill Gates in what America has become.

And by unplugging, I may be able to pretend.

Posted by: publius (not Breitbart publius) at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (dvuhZ)

40 Dangit! Willow'd.

Some appropriate music for the day, then I have to head out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uSGSvKy6Io

Is a children's song, imagine 50+ kids singing it. Very pretty.

Love
you all! Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Easter and Passover! We
are going to have a blood moon, which apparently means the world will
end or something. But if the internet is still around on Monday I'll
talk to you then.

Posted by: LizLem at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (yRwC8)

41 "Does this mean I have to give up Baseball?"

I'll admit that missing sports is the drawback. I like my SEC football. I refuse to pay to watch it. I get some games off air, and I visit friends to watch sometimes.

Posted by: Cloyd Freud, Unemployed at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (lG2E3)

42 I have 30 TVs scattered across my palatial estate, all tuned to Bloomberg Business.

Posted by: Mr. Foo Foo at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (Dwehj)

43 There are some interesting music stations on the internet, free with less annoying ads than any commercial channel you can find. Makes great background "noise".

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (ftVQq)

44
I don't waste my life staring at a TV.

I am usually here staring at AoS
Posted by: JohnnyBoy
...................................
The comedians here sure are a lot more funny.

Posted by: wth at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (wAQA5)

45 Not paying attention to the propaganda won't work. It just leaves the field clear for propagandists to poison the LIVs without interference.

Gotta be a better plan.

Posted by: DriveBy at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (C9Vc8)

46 Well I did try to read Ulysses to put me to sleep and that works pretty good. I got bored re-reading the first page every night though.
------------------

I have a French Language textbook that will have you snoring in under 5 minutes.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 03, 2015 08:35 PM (l1zOH)

47 I don't waste my life staring at a TV.

I am usually here staring at AoS

Posted by: JohnnyBoy at April 03, 2015 08:30 PM (KG0mU)

LoL, exactly my problem as well.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 08:35 PM (GDulk)

48 I have 30 TVs scattered across my palatial estate, all tuned to Bloomberg Business.

Posted by: Mr. Foo Foo at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (Dwehj)

I'll bet you know what every one of them cost, too.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at April 03, 2015 08:35 PM (ZbCKc)

49 Addendum: I read, go to church, work out at the gym and I'm thinking about getting a fat bike.
And I work.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 03, 2015 08:35 PM (4+sJl)

50 You are right but I got a monkey n my back with FX and AMC. HBO and showtime were easy t cut off. I really only watch PErson of Interest on the old media and they are making that easy to boycott now.

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 08:35 PM (WGm5T)

51 video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaTcIzLk880

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:35 PM (AVEe1)

52 I mostly stopped watching TV entertainment shows in the 90s. They just didn't interest me much.

After the 2008 election, I quit watching TV news, including Fox.

That left sports, pretty much. I used to like the History Channel, but they've strayed away from actual history in recent years. The Weather Channel has likewise strayed away from actual weather coverage.

I was still paying a monthly cable bill even though I was watching less and less TV.

So after the 2012 election, I cancelled my cable TV and turned in my box. I'm sure there have been good TV shows that I missed, like Firefly and Breaking Bad. At least I can read about them here.

The only time I really miss TV is during the baseball postseason, and other commenters here provided links to where I could watch it online.

I remember "Kill Your Television" bumper stickers in the 1980s.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 08:36 PM (sdi6R)

53 I got me a new big screen and we loves it.

Posted by: citizen of Ferguson at April 03, 2015 08:36 PM (wAQA5)

54
I quit broadcast/cable TV about 10 years ago. Anything I want to watch is via BitTorrent (Fuck You, Hollywood. Fuck. You.)

Nice thing about BT is that it's not a totally passive activity. You have to PLAN your TV habit, and make an effort to search out the proper torrent file.

Also, it keeps a chunk of your entertainment $ from going into the pockets of leftist cocksuckers who hate conservatives.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at April 03, 2015 08:36 PM (ynQIy)

55

Axe time!

Sword time!

Shields are splintered!

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 03, 2015 08:37 PM (kdS6q)

56 We haven't turned the TV on in the last month, and shitcanned cable a week ago as a consequence. Not being pretentious, there's just nothing worth watching.

The only thing I'd even consider watching on TV is baseball and football of my son's college, and I can get them online. So adios, pendejos!

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:37 PM (oKE6c)

57 Well I did try to read Ulysses to put me to sleep
and that works pretty good. I got bored re-reading the first page every
night though.

Try Moby Dick.

Posted by: Cicero (@cicero) at April 03, 2015 08:33 PM (ZbCKc)

"The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" works for me.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:37 PM (ftVQq)

58 44
I don't waste my life staring at a TV.

I am usually here staring at AoS
Posted by: JohnnyBoy
...................................
The comedians here sure are a lot more funny.
Posted by: wth at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (wAQA5)

Now that's a threadwinner.

It also has the advantage of being true.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 08:37 PM (sdi6R)

59 I was in your shoes. Put up an aerial to catch the OTA stations because I knew I'd want to see some of the 'classic' channels.

...and I never used it.

It's easier than you think to quit. After a few weeks, whenever you catch something on someone's TV, you'll be struck by how stupid and/or phony it seems.

Posted by: t-bird at April 03, 2015 08:38 PM (iVaFv)

60 Posted by: Mr. Foo Foo at April 03, 2015 08:34 PM (Dwehj)

Gotta keep up at the HQ!

Posted by: Golfman at April 03, 2015 08:38 PM (48QDY)

61 Another thing, If I quit my basic subscription with only sports. I save $180/month.

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 08:38 PM (WGm5T)

62 "HBO and showtime were easy t cut off."

What are the big shows on HBO/Showtime anymore? I know GoT but that's it.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 08:39 PM (SFPWo)

63 So after the 2012 election, I cancelled my cable TV
and turned in my box. I'm sure there have been good TV shows that I
missed, like Firefly and Breaking Bad. At least I can read about them here.

The only time I really miss TV is during the baseball postseason,
and other commenters here provided links to where I could watch it
online.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 08:36 PM (sdi6R)
My man. Breaking Bad is on Netflix. Where do you get postseason baseball? MLB.TV pisses me off because (apparently for contractual reasons) a subscription only covers the regular season; the postseason and the All-Star game are on top of that.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:40 PM (oKE6c)

64 I watch maybe an hour of TV per week with the family. The rest of my free time is spent lurking at AOS all day with a few sporadic minutes checking WZ and Protein Wisdom for updates. While it is much more informative than TV it still is not living a life. The bike was just tuned up, one of these days I'll have to ride it. It's hard to get out and do that when Ace is on fire like he has been.

Posted by: delurk ergo sum at April 03, 2015 08:40 PM (Sq7Kx)

65 Hat, good call on teh Misfits *clinks glass*

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:40 PM (AVEe1)

66 Has someone hacked go fund pizza site? It frozen has been for a while

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 08:40 PM (0FSuD)

67 I already don't watch much.I mostly keep it on for background noise and I never put on the networks at all.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 08:40 PM (KETbL)

68 Right now I'm watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives and Aerial America. By the way, Aerial America is an awesome look at each States natural and man made landmarks and the stories behind them.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 08:40 PM (sIhFA)

69 weird al
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HaZvJZaiYQ

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:41 PM (AVEe1)

70 66 Has someone hacked go fund pizza site? It frozen has been for a while

It's finished, the organizers ended it.

Average 17.5k/hour for 48 hours. Enjoy the librage.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 08:41 PM (0NdlF)

71 "What are the big shows on HBO/Showtime anymore? I know GoT but that's it."

Come on now watching that chick that makes you throw up a little in the back of your mouth gettin the nood and that sexually abused her little sister?!?!?!

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 08:41 PM (WGm5T)

72 I stopped watching the alphabet network tv with the exception of football. Otherwise I'm fine with History, Nat Geo, Heroes, etc. Game of Thrones and shows like Justified, etc I'm OK with too.

Posted by: Hank at April 03, 2015 08:41 PM (kZA+j)

73 I thought TV was life.

Posted by: Low Info Voter at April 03, 2015 08:42 PM (wAQA5)

74 One issue is that we have kids and spouses, and they don't necessarily share our beliefs to the extent that we do. I'm not going to go all Mosquito Coast on them.

But it's a good idea, I will admit that.

Posted by: some guy at April 03, 2015 08:42 PM (q177U)

75 As a personal choice for ones own self, there is almost none better (except, as mentioned, quitting smoking).

But there is never going to be a way to slay this dragon. TV, like the poor, will always be with us. Eventually it will evolve and change ( as it did from radio), but that will be like putting armor on its already tough hide, a technological improvement that gives another evolutionary advantage to s malevolent creature that preys on human minds and souls.

You've identified the problem, and if Breitbart were in this conversation he'd agree: media and the poison they deliver are destroying the country and are making Americans less American with every passing year.

But damned if I know a way to stop it when the only remote control I have charge of is my own, and the idiots that slurp up the TV's anesthesia just get dumber and less able to govern themselves with every sitcom-with-a-message or fake news show.

Personally, I think we are going to have to start actual, non-metaphorical FIGHTING if we want our rights to be respected. And if that's true, it isn't so much about an HD LED picture that we need to be concerned with, but a SIGHT picture.

Posted by: Bluesman125 at April 03, 2015 08:42 PM (yKjlk)

76
By the way, if anyone is thinking of starving the beast by killing their cable and watching TV via Roku, Netflix, Amazon etc, you're still paying for the content, just adding another middleman.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at April 03, 2015 08:43 PM (ynQIy)

77 I quit watching TV about 18 months ago and I haven't been to a movie theater in about 4 years. It is astonishing how liberating it's been.

Posted by: Alix Bryans Fallopian Tubes at April 03, 2015 08:43 PM (bngVi)

78 73 I thought TV was life.
Posted by: Low Info Voter at April 03, 2015 08:42 PM (wAQA5)

yeah, me too, TV is so real life. Everything fixed in 60 minutes or less.

Posted by: And I vote at April 03, 2015 08:43 PM (WNERA)

79 If it were just me here the TV portion of the cable service would be long discontinued, although it would probably not save much after losing the triple play (TV, data, phone) discount. My 86 year old mother barely understands the TiVo. Getting her to understand using a media box would be beating my head against a wall. My sister is somewhat better but not by much.

I've probably got close to 5,000 hours of video files stored on the household network, mostly torrent downloads. I just cannot seem to sustain interest long enough to even begin to catch up with the backlog. Especially with a comparable number of books and games competing for my attention, and all trying to drag me away from stuff like this place.

Network news is facing a big problem. The big nets know their days are numbered as far as traditional broadcasting is concerned. The question is no longer if the TV schedule grid will die off but when. Without the lead-in and follow-out positions to prime time content, there will not be much reason for the news operations at NBC, ABC, and CBS to continue existing. It's already abundantly clear they cannot compete with dedicated news channels like Fox. Soon the former big three will have to emulate Fox and make their news operations purely local interest appendages to a dedicated channel or simply leave it entirely to the affiliates, assuming they still have that structure much longer. This is already underway, with the effect most visible at NBC.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (IdCqF)

80 Since I've had streaming subs I've tried some tv shows, but the minute I get a whiff of leftist bullshit I just hit that back button.

So far, Justified and The Wire are the among the few that I've been able watch all the way through. The Unit started off well enough, but halfway through the first season there were warning signs and after the second season, it's bye bye.

I see a lot of people complain that conservative shows are boring, but we don't need "conservative" shows. We just need shows that don't have leftist bullshit. There is no need for any purposeful slant, just tell the damn story.

Posted by: East Bay KG at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (gF+4r)

81 Full disclosure, I do still curse the day Obama was born (wherever that was) every day. All in all, it's a positive experience.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:31 PM (ftVQq)

I don't curse the day he was born. I curse the day the rubber broke.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (oKE6c)

82 I see some faulty thinking here....

Roku, watching Blueray movies, sports only, etc. And of course, addicted to reading AoS and stuff on the Internet.

To one degree or another, somebody is trying to get inside your head and get you to think in a way that you might not originally consider.

Reading a book actually takes a bit of focused thought, and can be intellectually stimulating. TV, all of it, is designed to make you dumb as a stump. I've been watching TV for purty near 56 years now (I can remember seeing Eisenhower on TV as a small child), and frankly, I'd like to have some of that time back.
It's almost pure poison. Very powerful people want to twist your thoughts, and most all of it is pure garbage. Like the Matrix, it is pretty much all an illusion.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (+1T7c)

83 @70

WHY? It would have easily made it to a million. THAT would have been a statement!

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (0FSuD)

84 I turn off the news. It's usually bad. And a lot of it.

Posted by: Thor's feather duster at April 03, 2015 08:45 PM (JgC5a)

85 One thing you'll never catch me watching on any of my 40 TVs are those ghey-h8ing Jesusland Christian preachers. My discerning intellect just won't allow it.

Posted by: Mr. Foo Foo at April 03, 2015 08:45 PM (Dwehj)

86 Kill your cable. When I did, I missed it for all of about five minutes and then moved on.

Posted by: Craig Allen at April 03, 2015 08:45 PM (Bu03j)

87 "Right now I'm watching Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives"

Two of my favorite eateries were on that in my town. One of those take out places I've been frequenting for over 35 years. Will go there tomorrow to get some carnitas and the best green salsa I have ever had. On sunday I will have a bad case of Mexican heatburn, IYKWIMAIKYD.

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 08:45 PM (WGm5T)

88 So, the Gofundme site ended with a total of a shade above $842K. Good for them..I hope they spend it wisely and sue the bejeezus out of some dimbulbs.

Posted by: Hank at April 03, 2015 08:46 PM (kZA+j)

89 "We can Kill The Messenger."

TV isn't the messenger, it's the medium. The reporters, actors, and even advertisers (Hello, Progressive insurance, for one) are the messengers.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at April 03, 2015 08:46 PM (amQXf)

90 "gettin the nood and that sexually abused her little sister?!?!?!"

Oh yeah, that.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 08:46 PM (SFPWo)

91 So The BBC has scrubbed all the hosts from the topGear site from the banner and has only left the Stig.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 03, 2015 08:47 PM (CxEX+)

92 76 By the way, if anyone is thinking of starving the beast by killing their cable and watching TV via Roku, Netflix, Amazon etc, you're still paying for the content, just adding another middleman.

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at April 03, 2015 08:43 PM (ynQIy)

That's true, but at least that way you get a vote in what they present. When the middlemen see anti-American shit floundering, and pro-American stuff being watched, I suspect/hope they'll take the hint.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:47 PM (oKE6c)

93 I see a lot of people complain that conservative shows are boring, but we don't need "conservative" shows. We just need shows that don't have leftist bullshit. There is no need for any purposeful slant, just tell the damn story.

The first three "Game of Thrones" movies (and 2.5 of the books) got some powerful conservative messages across IMO. Before GRRM's donut bill got to his mailbox

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:47 PM (AVEe1)

94 TV isn't the messenger, it's the medium.

Dude!

Posted by: Marshall McLuhan at April 03, 2015 08:47 PM (95Kut)

95
You haven't lived until you sit through a whole episode of Naked and Afraid, commercials and all.

Posted by: Low Info Voter at April 03, 2015 08:48 PM (wAQA5)

96 I don't curse the day he was born. I curse the day the rubber broke.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (oKE6c)

I'll add that just to be doubly sure!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:48 PM (ftVQq)

97 TV isn't the messenger, it's the medium. The reporters, actors, and even
advertisers (Hello, Progressive insurance, for one) are the messengers.

We have terminated your policy effective immediately, sir. Non-compliance will not be tolerated.

Posted by: Progressive Flo's Forehead at April 03, 2015 08:49 PM (Dwehj)

98 I love triple D. Guy is a nut. He won that position by sending in a tape during a contest for a host.

They hired him immediately. He is liberal.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 08:49 PM (0FSuD)

99 83 @70

WHY? It would have easily made it to a million. THAT would have been a statement!

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (0FSuD)

Well, here's another one that hasn't gotten nearly as much publicity, if you're so inclined:

http://www.gofundme.com/mz6zm4

She's in even worse shape than the pizza people, because she's being sued by the state government.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 08:49 PM (sdi6R)

100 I'm thinking about, firstly, stopping watching almost TV entirely and shedding cable stations. (Some cut the cable entirely.)

^^^

Ace. Dude.

Where you been?

I shitcanned cable/diretv 2 years ago. also shitcanned netflix in october because 'em fucker dumped battlestar galactica.

We pay around 40 bones a month for our internet and have amazon prime which, because we order shitloads of stuff, pretty much pays for itself.

And if there's nothing on? battlefield, zombie games, destiny... eh Oh and I read books (whoda thunk?)

* side note: all male stewardesses should be kicked out the ass end of a 130. Fucker ass-faced me like 5 times on my trip home.

Can you have a smaller ass or get another fucking job? And smell less like a failed life.. ffs.

Posted by: TangoNine at April 03, 2015 08:49 PM (x3YFz)

101 Luckily for me, I quit watching television on any regular basis back in the '90s.

There is a TV in my home, but 95% of the time it merely functions as a monitor for my attached DVD player, which I use to play (generally vintage) films.

One or two hours a week of actual TV watching is all I subject myself to.

The absence of TV, I might add, I credit for giving me enough time to do what I do.

The indoctrination part -- I'm way way past that. I wouldn't watch cable or news (or 99% of contemporary scripted shows) on TV if you paid me.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 08:50 PM (K4YiS)

102 Here are the books I have NOT read this week due to TV, and they're all good:

Going Clear, Lawrence Wright's expose/history of Scientology.

Starting Strength, by Mark Rippetoe, which Instapundit is forever flogging, and S. Crowder just said he recommends to everyone he knows.

Flashman. I am told this is a fantastically fun historical adventure with a dirty, lying, cheating bully of a thief.

The Girl With All the Gifts, by M.R. Carey or something like that. Scary doctor-who-ish horror fantasy.

Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 08:50 PM (PA7DS)

103
Kill your cable. When I did, I missed it for all of about five minutes and then moved on.
Posted by: Craig Allen
..........................................
Kind of like going cold turkey on coffee, but without the headaches.

Posted by: wth at April 03, 2015 08:50 PM (wAQA5)

104 I hope they spend it wisely and sue the bejeezus out of some dimbulbs.

Posted by: Hank at April 03, 2015 08:46 PM (kZA+j)

I hope that get a conservative lawyer shark to represent them and clean out some media wallets!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:51 PM (ftVQq)

105 One thing you'll never catch me watching on any of my 40 TVs are those ghey-h8ing Jesusland Christian preachers. My discerning intellect just won't allow it.

I know this is a sock... but...

As an agnostic I usually *did* get something out of the "Trinity Broadcast Network". Yeah, often the preachers were annoying and ignorant. But sometimes it was wholesome messages. Sometimes it was an angle on the Bible I hadn't thought of before (even secular researchers need this stuff). Mostly it was just understanding what Christians think.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:51 PM (AVEe1)

106 $842,000

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 08:51 PM (K4YiS)

107 >>>Where you been?

I shitcanned cable/diretv 2 years ago. also shitcanned netflix in october because 'em fucker dumped battlestar galactica.

We pay around 40 bones a month for our internet and have amazon prime which, because we order shitloads of stuff, pretty much pays for itself.

And if there's nothing on? battlefield, zombie games, destiny... eh Oh and I read books (whoda thunk?)

* side note: all male stewardesses should be kicked out the ass end of a 130. Fucker ass-faced me like 5 times on my trip home.

Can you have a smaller ass or get another fucking job? And smell less like a failed life.. ffs.

...

I'd like to get Gabe to do a post on Cutting the Cable. I know he's done this too.

if he can't do it -- or he just does it at THE FEDERALIST -- maybe I can inveigh on you to tell us how to Cut The Cable?

Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 08:52 PM (PA7DS)

108 Except Last Man Standing. That shit is hilarious. And flies in the face of liberal asshats who insist "Conservatives just aren't funny."

(I say this as someone who canceled cable a year ago. Yea, I'm watching this on Hulu.)

Posted by: Book at April 03, 2015 08:52 PM (AlkUj)

109 If the SJWs ever see what they claim we are capable of, I don't think they will like it.

Guess that is why they SJWs don't go after the muzzies.

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 08:53 PM (WGm5T)

110 WHY? It would have easily made it to a million. THAT would have been a statement!

/shrug

They may have targeted 48 hours, and it's already an order of magnitude more than the asked for 25K. Sticking a finger in SJW eyes is hilarious, but a very secondary goal.

Interesting fact from Dana's Facebook links: 300K is 3 years of revenue for them. Donations worth 8 years of work... may they use it wisely.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 08:53 PM (0NdlF)

111 The indoctrination part -- I'm way way past that. I
wouldn't watch cable or news (or 99% of contemporary scripted shows) on
TV if you paid me.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 08:50 PM (K4YiS)

Yep. But having said that, I did fire up the TV for a family movie night (DVD), and happened across "Madam Secretary" before the DVD fired up. It was hilarious! It was truly the political equivalent of Sharknado. My family and I ended up watching the episode just to goof on it. It's basically a cartoon for lower primates.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:53 PM (oKE6c)

112 Flashman. I am told this is a fantastically fun historical adventure with a dirty, lying, cheating bully of a thief.

You are told rightly. Read it before the SJWs yank it from the shelf - which they *will*, because the Victorians had their own SJWs, and Fraser used these Victorians to stand in for today's liberal hypocrites.

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:53 PM (AVEe1)

113 Agreed on ditching TV... but.. say like me, I just have cable internet. Basic cable TV channels are on there. ( Time Warner is "fixing" that leak soon). But to Ace's point.. even by just subscribing to internet with a cable company, surely that cable company doesn't separate out the money... so it's as if you were a cable subscriber, no?

Posted by: Yip at April 03, 2015 08:53 PM (84SRe)

114 OK, got willowed at the end of the last thread and we're close enough that I can go O/T.

Yes, Passover is today. I would imagine that NGU, CBD, and others are home celebrating the Seder.

Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha-olam, asher kideshanu bemitzvotav ve-tsivanu lehadik ner shel yom tov.

Blessed art thou, Lord our God, Master of the universe,
who sanctifies us with Your commandments, and commanded us
to kindle the light the holiday.

God Bless you all, regardless of faith, on this holiest of weekends.

Posted by: Old Blue at April 03, 2015 08:54 PM (9iR5/)

115 I gave up virtually all television over 20 years ago. It is clarifying, but do you really want clarity?

It's the Red Pill, baby.

Posted by: Randall Hoven at April 03, 2015 08:54 PM (740Zt)

116 Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 08:50 PM (PA7DS)

You are in for a treat with Flashman. You might also look for Fraser's real life experiences book "Quartered Safe Out Here", recommended on the prestigious book thread and a great read IMHO.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 08:54 PM (ftVQq)

117 Thanks for the update. I still think a mill would have really really sent a message.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 08:55 PM (0FSuD)

118 Flashman. I am told this is a fantastically fun historical adventure with a dirty, lying, cheating bully of a thief.

Posted by: ace

I too was encouraged to read the Flashman books (encouraged by an odd person -- my ex-stepmother -- my father's third wife).

Anyway, I got about 30 pages into one and just couldn't continue.

Not sure what the problem was. I think it was just too testosterone-based. I understood what the humor was about, and where it was coming from -- it simply wasn't to my taste.

I recommend it perhaps for manly men. Problem is, manly men don't read books. Hmmmmmm.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (K4YiS)

119 Flashman is just so good. Everything I've read by George MacDonald Fraser has been top-shelf.

Posted by: although doesn't that make it harder to reach? at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (95Kut)

120 33 Does this mean I have to give up Baseball?

I'd love to know about alternatives. Seems I can get an MLB package to watch all the teams - except my own. And I think I'd have to watch on my computer, unless Roku or something like that has it. Don't know.

Posted by: despair at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (J6suc)

121 Just got back from Good Friday Service at my church. Started reading some of the previous posts and saw this; "Goth Fonzie Nick Gillespie". I love this place! I only know him from Red Eye. He's not impressive. Still, "Goth Fonzie Nick Gillespie". Awsome!

Posted by: puddleglum not at work at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (gpel8)

122 That's true, but at least that way you get a vote in
what they present. When the middlemen see anti-American shit
floundering, and pro-American stuff being watched, I suspect/hope
they'll take the hint.

Posted by: Jay Guevara

Don't take this the wrong way (because you are an intelligent man), but that's a fools hope.
Have the news networks really changed a whit while floundering, and Fox News is doing well? MSNBC, CNN. Think about it.

The Firesign Theater once made a record called "Everything you know is wrong!" Sometime we have to consider that a lot of what we think we know could be wrong. We desparately want to believe, deep down, that the country is really full of decent people who are being ignored, and someday the worm will turn.

That is, I now believe, wrong. It's not just the "LIV", it's a lot of people that have come to accept premises for reality that are widely at variance with what you think. It's not going to change.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (+1T7c)

123 No tv.

Posted by: Adriane the Firefox Critic ... at April 03, 2015 08:57 PM (nSOh+)

124 Every new TV sitcom must have at least one ghey character, or be about gheys, or have Ghey in the title.

Posted by: NBC Executive Order at April 03, 2015 08:57 PM (wAQA5)

125
Hit 'em where it hurts. Big businesses such as Apple have gone all in on Indiana, raise 'em back by endorsing and voting for a higher minimum wage and increased business taxes, above a small business friendly number of employees or annual revenue limit.

Turn the weapon of government around and give them the pointy end.

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 03, 2015 08:57 PM (kdS6q)

126 The only time I had cable was 6 years ago when my mail order bride came to live with me, I got it just to appear more like a "normal" person. I think we watched it one night, and I never paid the bill.

Posted by: bernverdnardo at April 03, 2015 08:57 PM (bUzMe)

127 Mad Max is on right now. Ironic that we just had a post a couple days ago discussing it at length.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 08:57 PM (sIhFA)

128 How to start a go find me thing?

Posted by: madamemayhem at April 03, 2015 08:57 PM (WPm3x)

129 I watch a lot of sports but even there You can't get away for the SJW Jihad (ESPN being the most aggressive in its evangelizing).

Posted by: puddleglum not at work at April 03, 2015 08:58 PM (gpel8)

130 Ace talked about walking some time ago and I started doing so back in November. Walked all through the winter and it's amazing to be outside, at night, entirely alone. The only thing keeping you company is the glow of televisions in nearly every house you pass.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 03, 2015 08:59 PM (oFCZn)

131 I missed the Mad Max thread, b/c Real Life and Outside. linky?

Posted by: boulder terlit hobo at April 03, 2015 08:59 PM (AVEe1)

132 Them! seems appropriate for alliteration.

Giant mutant worker ants blinding serving the colony Queens' every whim.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 03, 2015 08:59 PM (q3ld8)

133 124: EVERY TV show has a gay or lesbian character now.

Posted by: puddleglum not at work at April 03, 2015 08:59 PM (gpel8)

134 Don't take this the wrong way (because you are an intelligent man), but that's a fools hope.

Have the news networks really changed a whit while floundering, and Fox News is doing well? MSNBC, CNN. Think about it.

The Firesign Theater once made a record called "Everything you know is wrong!" Sometime we have to consider that a lot of what we think we know could be wrong. We desparately want to believe, deep down, that the country is really full of decent people who are being ignored, and someday the worm will turn.

That is, I now believe, wrong. It's not just the "LIV", it's a lot of people that have come to accept premises for reality that are widely at variance with what you think. It's not going to change.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (+1T7c)

Nah, you raise a good point. I was just trying to cheer myself up.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 08:59 PM (oKE6c)

135 "increased business taxes"

No NO increased business regulations and HIGHER personal income taxes, dividend taxes, and above all capital gains taxes.

Also, no foundations or trusts to escape higher death taxes.

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 09:00 PM (WGm5T)

136 #102
ace,

Thank you providing me with some book thread material.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2015 09:00 PM (w2MRj)

137 EVERY TV show has a gay or lesbian character now.

Not on TCM, MeTV or Encore Westerns channel.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 03, 2015 09:01 PM (W5DcG)

138 Now, if there was a dedicated Zardoz channel, with continuous showings of Zardoz, interspersed with analysis shows, "Making of..." documentaries, and interviews with the aging stars -- that I would watch religiously.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 09:01 PM (K4YiS)

139 It's not just the "LIV", it's a lot of people that have come to accept
premises for reality that are widely at variance with what you think.
It's not going to change.

My own family is a case in point. Not particularly political, but the majority of them accept the leftist media agitprop prima facie. It's tremendously discouraging at times.

Posted by: Uncle Busyhands at April 03, 2015 09:01 PM (Dwehj)

140 It's not going to change.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 08:56 PM (+1T7c)

I think it's going to change, but a lot of people will not like the change!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 09:02 PM (ftVQq)

141 btw, a long time ago, I proposed reading Moby Dick as a sort of Book Club thing on the blog. I'd never really read it. (Skimmed it, read cliff's notes in HS.)

In a couple of weeks maybe we'll try this? Always wanted to read this one.

Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 09:02 PM (PA7DS)

142 I've got it! New sitcom! Takes place in a pizza parlor and the employees are ghey. Maybe we can get Tom Cruise and John Travolta cuz he looks like he eats a lot of pizza, if you know what I mean.

Posted by: NBC Executive Order at April 03, 2015 09:02 PM (wAQA5)

143
Ace talked about walking some time ago and I started doing so back in
November. Walked all through the winter and it's amazing to be outside,
at night, entirely alone. The only thing keeping you company is the glow
of televisions in nearly every house you pass.
Posted by: Dack Thrombosis

As a young person, I remember a Ray Bradbury short story that sounded like that. Ray was a thoughtful man, and frankly a conservative-libertarian. He knew what was coming 50 years ago.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 09:03 PM (+1T7c)

144 137 That's pretty much all I watch aling with Discovery Channel and History Channel.Only problem is all the boner pill and other drug ads and lawyers looking to sue the drug companies.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:03 PM (KETbL)

145 Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 08:44 PM (0FSuD)

True enough. Since that can't happen I did kick some to the florist lady.Anything extra she gets is already earmarked to help defend others in similar cases.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:03 PM (GDulk)

146 Maybe we can get Tom Cruise and John Travolta cuz he looks like he eats a lot of pizza

Will the sauce be clear?

Posted by: Uncle Busyhands at April 03, 2015 09:03 PM (Dwehj)

147 I've never read any of the Flashman books, but I remember that Playboy magazine used to feature excerpts way back when. They were fun reads.

'Cause Playboy in the 70s was all about literature 'n shit.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (sdi6R)

148 Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 03, 2015 08:59 PM (oFCZn)

Just look up at the stars on a clear winter night. They never fail to amaze me!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (ftVQq)

149 If you guys will give up pron for the weekend, maybe I'd be impressed. Just TV? Nah bro.

Posted by: Y-not at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (9BRsg)

150 135 "increased business taxes"

No NO increased business regulations and HIGHER personal income taxes, dividend taxes, and above all capital gains taxes.

Also, no foundations or trusts to escape higher death taxes.

Posted by: Jukin Former Republican at April 03, 2015 09:00 PM (WGm5T)

Increase sales taxes; easier to collect, and EVERYBODY pays. Business taxes are bullshit, since businesses merely pass along the tax increase. That means that the government uses businesses as tax collectors, and lightning rods for people getting pissed about taxes/higher costs.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (oKE6c)

151 I've got it! New sitcom! Takes place in a pizza parlor and the employees are ghey. Maybe we can get Tom Cruise and John Travolta cuz he looks like he eats a lot of pizza, if you know what I mean.

Sorry, they're reporting that Tom Cruise is still in the closet.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 03, 2015 09:05 PM (w2MRj)

152 John Revolta? Obviously not seen Battlefield Earth. *thud*

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 03, 2015 09:05 PM (q3ld8)

153 149 If you guys will give up pron for the weekend, maybe I'd be impressed. Just TV? Nah bro.

Posted by: Y-not at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (9BRsg)

Yeah, that's totally gonna happen.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 09:05 PM (oKE6c)

154 Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 09:02 PM (PA7DS)

I remember that. Maybe now I am ready to try it!

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 09:05 PM (ftVQq)

155 I haven't watched more than a few TV series regularly for decades. Every now and then I try to find one I will like that my wife and I or the entire family can watch together. Otherwise, you are always each only reading your own book or staring at your own computer screen. TV can be a more social activity. But we almost always end up turning it off. Most recently watched the first episodes of The Americans, and Parks and Recreation. Didn't feel compelled to watch a second.

My wife and I have watched all of Downton Abbey, which was actually good for the first several seasons if you take as given that it's a glorified soap opera and not expect too much. (Now its pretty bad). Tried to watch new PBS detective show about an anglican priest. Pass.

Tonight I may try to watch Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

So I guess my problem is the opposite of Ace's. So that we actually interact and have something in common across the family, I would love to find good TV shows to watch together.

Posted by: Chris not rock at April 03, 2015 09:05 PM (kdNuV)

156 We only watch pron 15 to 20 minutes at a time anyway.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (KETbL)

157 13 years cable free. It can be done. I get about 30 stations (mostly crap) via an old school antenna in my attic. Hardly watch it. The This Old House Hour is really the only show i watch without fail. NFL and college football in the fall. Some local TV news. That's about it.

Posted by: Sid Vicious at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (r2ZoP)

158 >>Yeah, that's totally gonna happen.

Nothing says Easter Weekend like some good lesbian midget pron, amirite?!

Posted by: Y-not at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (9BRsg)

159 No.

Don't be fucking stupid.

Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (MMVqr)

160 149
If you guys will give up pron for the weekend, maybe I'd be impressed. Just TV? Nah bro.

Posted by: Y-not at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (9BRsg)

Ha ha! I am so old I don't even watch pron.

Posted by: Nip Sip at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (0FSuD)

161 Well, the wife's been actually amenable to the idea of cutting the cable.

A reduction to broadcast would be a good step, and I'm willing.

That at least would remove the cable payment that gets divvied between all those loathsome people. On broadcast, I wouldn't factor into ratings, and I wouldn't pay into their pockets.

With an apolitical wife and family, that may be the biggest step I could make without making the entire house into a very cold place indeed.

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 09:07 PM (MMC8r)

162 Thanks for the blessing, Old Blue.

Right back 'atcha.

Posted by: JohnnyBoy at April 03, 2015 09:07 PM (KG0mU)

163 As a young person, I remember a Ray Bradbury short story that sounded like that. Ray was a thoughtful man, and frankly a conservative-libertarian. He knew what was coming 50 years ago.

One of his short stories that made an impression was one where the parents talk about the imaginary alien friends their kids play with ... until one day, it turns out the aliens are very real hostile invaders, and the kids help the aliens round up their parents for the death camps.

I'm looking at you, Public Education.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 09:07 PM (0NdlF)

164 One month with the Roku. Cutting the cable (which involves using a flame to set the rope a'smolderin' and then you hack it with yer cutlass, right?) probably next month.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 03, 2015 09:07 PM (/WPPJ)

165 In a couple of weeks maybe we'll try this? Always wanted to read this one.

Posted by: ace

It is a very "dense" book, in terms of the prose. It is not easy reading. The story moves slowly, but it is because Melville was trying to expound on a very primal idea, and the book was written in such a way to make the message profoundly universal.

The language is prosaic and antebellum, reflecting how thoughtfully men USED to formulate their ideas. In keeping with your message, it is a reflection as to how DUMB we are now.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (+1T7c)

166 My "go to" channel when waiting for the DVDs to load and the previews to finish is 32.6 -- the Kpop channel, featuring nonstop videos of Korean singers trying to act black. Quite, quite entertaining. It's produced in LA, seemingly by a clique of teenage Korean-American kids, but for some reason it's also broadcast here in the SF area. I'd prefer a Jpop channel if one existed, but these days everything Korean is trendy, so Kpop it is.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (K4YiS)

167 how many times have I read variations of this post? how many more times will a variation of this post be written?

I quit TV. It takes 3 weeks to get used to it and then the rest of your life is better.

I quit because I refuse to keep paying people to treat me the way they do. There is no way to get around it --- if you pay them to treat you badly you deserve to be treated badly.

self-bargaining and hoping will not make anything change.

Posted by: jc at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (iRJ+A)

168 It's near sead in our house. We cut the cable last year, and have rabbit ears we hardly use except for 24 and in May, Waywars Pines (I read the series).

The kids occassionally watch roons on netflix. I haven't missed the sports that much either. Watching ball all day is somewhat suboptimal, too.

And fuck the MSM.

Posted by: Hmitchell3rd at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (m5msJ)

169 I dropped cable 6 months ago. Now I waste my time on the internets.

Posted by: kansas at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (vqsBK)

170 147 I've never read any of the Flashman books, but I remember that Playboy magazine used to feature excerpts way back when. They were fun reads.

'Cause Playboy in the 70s was all about literature 'n shit.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM (sdi6R)

Note the date and time - we've found someone who actually read the articles in Playboy!

Seriously, though, the Flashman books are a great read, and actually have a lot of history woven into the plot as well. On top of which, they're hopelessly politically incorrect, so what's not to love?

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (oKE6c)

171 There are tens of thousands of programs/movies online that you can either watch or download onto a portable usb drive and plug into yr tv or dvd and watch and all for free.

I enjoy documentaries old and new.

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 03, 2015 09:08 PM (iQIUe)

172 Posted by: Old Blue at April 03, 2015 08:54 PM (9iR5/)

Thanks. And blessings to you and all of the Horde.

As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15...

Posted by: Golfman at April 03, 2015 09:09 PM (48QDY)

173
EVERY TV show has a gay or lesbian character now.

Not on TCM, MeTV or Encore Westerns channel.
Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr.
....................................
Wouldn't be surprised if they start dubbing them into the old westerns. "Pew! Pew! Pew! I love these chaps and this hat! Those Indians are so tan!"

Posted by: wth at April 03, 2015 09:09 PM (wAQA5)

174 I have not had TV in four years...I called Charter and asked them to remove their box from my house. I watch every sporting event I want and just about any show or movie for free on the internet. I spent hours learning how to repair ANY possible failure of my vehicle, how to professionally build my cabin, and have a garden second to NONE from You-tube advice because I take the time to weed through the bullshit and find relevant videos that are posted by a myriad of honest people who offer their valuable experience for free! Eight bucks a month buys me Netflix and reading blogs and the News outlets keep me informed...FUCK TV...it is a thing of the past!

Posted by: tbd at April 03, 2015 09:09 PM (KVjPb)

175 Best sitcom on TV now is Brooklyn 99. And yes they have a ghey character. Hilarious character.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:09 PM (sIhFA)

176 Wayward Pines

Posted by: Hmitchell3rd at April 03, 2015 09:09 PM (m5msJ)

177 Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 09:02 PM (PA7DS)

I had my Kindle read it to me recently. It's surprisingly funny but also just plain weird in places. Ended oddly too. As if Melville didn't really know how to wrap the story up.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (GDulk)

178 141 btw, a long time ago, I proposed reading Moby Dick as a sort of Book Club thing on the blog. I'd never really read it. (Skimmed it, read cliff's notes in HS.)

In a couple of weeks maybe we'll try this? Always wanted to read this one.

Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 09:02 PM (PA7DS)

I've read it. It's ok. When you first start going through it he's writing he's writing and then suddenly the book veers off into something else with an entirely different tone. It definitely comes across as he had an idea and then suddenly said ahh ckuf it and went in a different direction.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (oFCZn)

179 William Butler Yeats:

The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

That captures the times perfectly.

Posted by: publius (not Breitbart publius) at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (dvuhZ)

180 >>>
I quit TV. It takes 3 weeks to get used to it and then the rest of your life is better.

...

aha-- like smoking then!

Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (PA7DS)

181 Nothing says Easter Weekend like some good lesbian midget pron, amirite?!

Posted by: Y-not at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (9BRsg)

It's for the children!

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (oKE6c)

182 The problem with television is that it reduces everything to the ten second bite, so that Leftists can say "You see? That is what the problem is with America!"

Refuting TV's ten-second bites takes minutes, but before you can use those minutes, the idiot box has already delivered the next bite to the Leftists and they are consuming it. It's easier to watch TV than think.

If I could go back in time, I would prevent the invention of television. It has brought nothing but harm to the world. Without television, liberalism would never have survived its infancy.

Posted by: Null at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (xjpRj)

183 Actually at our house there has been virtually zero TV since about Christmas. Missed not at all.

Posted by: Skookumchuk at April 03, 2015 09:10 PM (/WPPJ)

184 TV doesn't affect my hard wired opinions, in fact reinforces them. Although I do agree that the cable needs cut, which I have done for several years, just so MSNBC doesn't get my buck a month.

Posted by: People Corp at April 03, 2015 09:11 PM (TzeLs)

185 178 It goes off into a non fiction about 19th century whaling.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:11 PM (KETbL)

186 The language is prosaic and antebellum, reflecting how thoughtfully men USED to formulate their ideas.

That statement perfectly describes my appreciation for many of the classics. Ideas are no longer spun - they are simply blurted.

Posted by: Uncle Busyhands at April 03, 2015 09:12 PM (Dwehj)

187 Moby Dick is a great book and didn't put me to sleep. Last time I read it was with my youngest when he was 10. Then we watched the movie.

Like most great books you get something more out of it every time you read it.

Posted by: freaked at April 03, 2015 09:12 PM (JdEZJ)

188 Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 09:04 PM

The Flashman books are a fun read. I'm rereading a lot of old Pratchett recently. Never fails to make me chuckle. I'm going to miss him. But as for TV? Meh. i watch a few how-to shows. Mostly cooking. Beyond that, I prefer to kill some leisure time with the Horde. Y'all are more fun.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at April 03, 2015 09:12 PM (kJUI8)

189 For Zombie - https://youtu.be/Edv3pdlO5wg

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 03, 2015 09:12 PM (q3ld8)

190 There are plenty of "Apocalypse Professions" to pick up on YouTube instead of TV. Yes, Google isn't an improvement ... but you -can- pick precisely whatever you're looking for.

Woodworking, Metalcasting, Metalworking, Steam Engines...

I haven't tracked down 'rough chemistry' or 'geology'.

Posted by: Alan at April 03, 2015 09:13 PM (ZkOKz)

191 Welcome aboard Ace. On Jan 1, 2015 no cable or satellite
1) bought an Apple TV and signed up for Netflix
2) do not watch any TV on Monday, Wensday, or Saturday
3) Tues watch TV for one hour (Person of Interest)
4) thurs watch TV for 30 minutes (Big Bang)
5) Fri watch TV for 1 hour ( Hawaii 50)
6) Sun oops I now no longer watch on Sunday but did watch Downton Abbey but their season is over

I don't think it was that hard to give it up. I now do a lot more reading and I do listen to a few ESPN podcasts via the Apple TV and I also watched all 3 seasons of House Of Cards courtesy of Netflix

Posted by: ADK46er at April 03, 2015 09:13 PM (gLXVV)

192 It goes off into a non fiction about 19th century whaling.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:11 PM (KETbL)

So, a prepper handbook of sorts, eh?

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 09:13 PM (ftVQq)

193 If you would have watched TV you may have learned Moby Dick was a commercial failure when it was written.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:14 PM (sIhFA)

194 When I want to waste time watching TV I watch the The Knife Show, mindless for sure, but fun. I do miss Tom O'dell though.

Posted by: Tutu at April 03, 2015 09:14 PM (eew/b)

195
We only watch pron 15 to 20 minutes at a time anyway.
Posted by: steevy
.........................................
It's like manscaping, you're always done before you finish shaving.

Posted by: John Travolta at April 03, 2015 09:15 PM (wAQA5)

196 193 If you would have watched TV you may have learned Moby Dick was a commercial failure when it was written.

Not surprised. My Lit teacher was not amused when I told him that reading it was the most boring thing I did over summer.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 09:15 PM (0NdlF)

197 #113

Don't kid yourself. The cable companies and telcos have employees whose sole task is to analyze what is generating their revenues down to very fine detail. This is critical because they have to negotiate price with all of their partners like Disney. If things evolve to the point a cable MSO finds itself a data pipe servicer with a small video content delivery business on the side, this point is going to come up the next time the value of Disney's content comes into negotiation.

It is no coincidence that as of a few weeks ago you could start getting HBO without having cable or satellite service. So long as you have a sufficient internet connection HBO will sell you the product directly rather than through a third party. It was either that or start treating Netflix as another cable MSO, because the cord cutter trend is becoming worrisome for those dependent on cable/satellite for their primary revenue.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 03, 2015 09:15 PM (IdCqF)

198 Pardon me for commenting after only having read the first few paragraphs of your latest grand opus, boss.

Used to have antenna, cable, and satellite. Got rid of them all along with the cathode teevees. Years ago. Just about the only LaughingStockMedia I catch is clips posted by or linked to at the websites I visit.

It's hard to be ahead of the curve all the time; whenever the call goes out to quit some group, I'd have to start to quit.

I'm in my early sixties. I quit mass media before most did/will because of being a computer geek and a relatively early Internet adopter. When I started my website, I used it to advertise my mini-comics. (Wish you could've seen the cool VRML comics spinner I had.) Then I scanned, colored, and posted a "sample" comic. In color. Without xerography. Available to the "world" from one "copy." That's when it fully hit me. Print is dead. Records/CDs are dead. Film is dead. Broadcast is dead. This one framework will hold everything.

Nineteen years later, they're not dead yet, but it's accelerating as the net & access thereto grows.

The LaughingStockMedia are dead. Long live the independent press, the AoS's now & future.

Stopping before this is as long as Ace's article, which I now have to finish.

Posted by: mindful webworker - what, me dia? at April 03, 2015 09:16 PM (0PD0H)

199 It really does take only a few weeks to get over losing cable. And, then you get the cable bill and realize you are no longer getting taken by the local monopoly.

We use the new magic jack for tel. Cable bill is now $40 for internet. They tried to jsck it up after a year, but I told them to go to hell, and they dropped it back.

So, we save enough for a big chunk of a cruise or disney each year.

Posted by: Hmitchell3rd at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (m5msJ)

200 Fuck you. Baseball season starts this weekend. Season 5 of Game of Thrones starts up too. Not to mention the final 4, Saturday and Monday.

The fact that you are watching crap doesn't mean the rest of us can't watch important shot like someone 1/3 our age knocking the shut out of a baseball, or watching gratuitous nudity and violence on game of thrones.

Just quit watching Fox and msnbc and you'll be fine.

Posted by: Kazinski at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (+RCdH)

201 I don't have a hard time NOT watching TV, but there are times it can be relaxing and thoughtless (an alpha wave generator). And sometimes a good movie is on (but I've seen most of them already). I would miss watching baseball in the summer. But as I get older, I find the appeal of watching sports lessening. It too appears somewhat false and contrived.

I could not cut the cable, my wife would kill me.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (+1T7c)

202 Basically we have to fight a William Tecumseh Shermanesque fight against the fascist who are now on the cusp of governmentally deligitimizing the Christian faith and enshrining the leftist and specifically homosexual sensibilities of acceptable conscience with regards their lifestyle.

Pat Buchannan was right 23 years ago and he was made a laughingstock.

Well who the fuck is laughing now?

Posted by: Kreplach at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (BJLGz)

203
Woodworking, Metalcasting, Metalworking, Steam Engines...

Doing #3 and some #1; may take up #2 by year's end. Workshop for metalworking (jewelry) is in our sun room, where I really like the light.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars(TM) at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (Fxt+d)

204 189 For Zombie - https://youtu.be/Edv3pdlO5wg
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD)

Hate to break the news, but that is not quite up my jpop alley. I like indie bands, pop-punk, girlie rock, and of course anything from the Hello! Project.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (K4YiS)

205 If you have kids, killing the tv may save the country. If it's just you, it will just make you happier.

When we bought the house we are now in, our then cable company refused to do the free hookup they were offering all new customers. We told them to get bent and took our time finding a replacement. A year later and a ton of reading had been done. I didn't miss it except sports. Unfortunately the wife and kids did.

Posted by: Typo dynamofo at April 03, 2015 09:17 PM (i7JE3)

206 There are plenty of "Apocalypse Professions" to pick
up on YouTube instead of TV. Yes, Google isn't an improvement ... but
you -can- pick precisely whatever you're looking for.

Woodworking, Metalcasting, Metalworking, Steam Engines...

I haven't tracked down 'rough chemistry' or 'geology'.

Posted by: Alan at April 03, 2015 09:13 PM (ZkOKz)

when I was teaching I mentioned to me little hordelings-in-training that I'd cut the cable/dtv cord.

they were like: "Duh."

It's really a sad moment when yer a guy who used Archie and Veronica and know what a BBS is when you kids school you.

Everyone got an "F" for the day. On principle.

Posted by: TangoNine at April 03, 2015 09:18 PM (x3YFz)

207
If you would have watched TV you may have learned Moby Dick was a commercial failure when it was written.

Posted by: Cruzinator

Now THAT'S FUNNY!

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 09:18 PM (+1T7c)

208 I don't watch broadcast TV. At all. Haven't since Barky ascended.

I have an awesome DVD collection though.

Posted by: Bat Chain Puller at April 03, 2015 09:18 PM (jpc8l)

209 My exhaustive collection on bovine husbandry covers an entire wall in my bibliotheque.

Posted by: Mr. Foo Foo at April 03, 2015 09:18 PM (Dwehj)

210 Before I could even read my mom read me the illustrated classics.Moby Dick and Robinson Crusoe and The Three Musketeers.They are considerably abridged but they started a lifelong love of reading.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:18 PM (KETbL)

211 Okay where are our gun people to defend the sportsman channel and the number of gun shows they have?

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:19 PM (sIhFA)

212 My wife and I killed the TV in the mid 90s. We noticed we were wasting too much time there.

We still watch some good shows, I am very partial to TBBT, but we have that on DVD, so it's done on our time.

Now, trying to figure out how to be more functional with the internet thing at my fingers 24/7.....

Posted by: Smashmaster at April 03, 2015 09:19 PM (uWkK2)

213 Back in the great economic peristalsis of 2008 when I lost my job, satellite tv was the very first thing to go. I missed the Justice League so much I bought the DVDs, but other than that we never looked back. By year's end we'll have saved something like $5000. Five large. That ought to help motivate ya.

Posted by: Jimmy don\'t play that at April 03, 2015 09:19 PM (F5OyJ)

214 Huh. I haven't watched TV for years, other than occasional web viewing of shows or segments, and am shocked to learn that you, brilliant Ace, watch it. Clearly it doesn't destroy brain cells, as I was sure it did.

It will be easier for you to give up during the warm months that invite us to spend more time outside, and energize us to do more generally. Then just avoid resuming it when the days get shorter and colder.

As for the rest of our shit-for-brains society... we can't do anything about their TV habits, unless we manage to help conservative thought infiltrate the toob or come up with/support a devastating, irresistible, subversively intelligent show or star that they will follow for a change.

I'm trying to cure my Internet addiction, though, and pay less attention to politics before my brain explodes. Any advice on how to do this would be appreciated.

Posted by: ohhellyeah at April 03, 2015 09:20 PM (KraNg)

215 I'm in. I'm actually going to my alma mater this weekend; they have a candle-lit Easter vigil in the chapel with an a capella choir. And it will be sunny and 50 so we will hit the beach.

Posted by: HR at April 03, 2015 09:20 PM (rHXGG)

216 Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:11 PM (KETbL)

No kidding. Although I loved that in the scene where the second mate (?) tricks the French captain out of his ambergris whale Melville isn't worried readers will get the idea whalers were dishonest, just that they may think whales stank. I guess it shows *my* priorities as much as his when he starts with 'Now, I don't want to have given you the wrong impression' and then goes somewhere I completely didn't expect.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:21 PM (GDulk)

217 It is a very "dense" book, in terms of the prose.

You have to slow down to think about what you are reading and comprehend each line. It's almost impossible for an impatient teenager to do that. I read it in HS too but only to get thru it.

Posted by: freaked at April 03, 2015 09:21 PM (JdEZJ)

218 Ancient Aliens is on, its always on Netflix. Those ancient astronaut theorists.

Posted by: People Corp at April 03, 2015 09:21 PM (TzeLs)

219 #149

How else can I show my support for the gays? At least that subset who are highly attractive women. And women because nature said so, not because they decided.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 03, 2015 09:22 PM (IdCqF)

220 Go a while without watching television and you'll wonder why people watch it. I can't do it. Then again, I'm one of those freaks who don't like cane sugar.

Posted by: ccoffer at April 03, 2015 09:22 PM (l/obw)

221 Cut the cable Nov 2011. No antenna or broadcast either.

I enjoy my drinking, reading, DVD's, and drinking far more now.

Posted by: OG CELTIC-AMERICAN at April 03, 2015 09:22 PM (92L+g)

222 You're a bit behind the curve on this....

Only thing I watch is Netflix, and Movies which I stream...

Been that way for about 4 years now.

Posted by: BB Wolf at April 03, 2015 09:23 PM (qh617)

223 I enjoy my drinking, reading, DVD's, and drinking far more now.

Oh, boy...

Posted by: Your Liver at April 03, 2015 09:23 PM (Dwehj)

224 Without TV where would you get scientific analysis like mine?

Posted by: Giorgio A. Tsoukalos at April 03, 2015 09:24 PM (wAQA5)

225 Then again, I'm one of those freaks who don't like cane sugar.
Posted by: ccoffer

You are not human, then.

It is impossible to dislike cane sugar. The disaccharides are better than cocaine to the human brain.

Posted by: zombie at April 03, 2015 09:24 PM (K4YiS)

226 t goes off into a non fiction about 19th century whaling.

-
Wait! They kill whales?!!!

Posted by: The Great White Snark at April 03, 2015 09:24 PM (LImiJ)

227 Have not had it for several years. Don't miss it and feel I am better informed thru ACE and Foxnews. Use the time to start use own business. That is what I did and getting set to retire and purse the business full time.

Posted by: Rich at April 03, 2015 09:24 PM (jxpou)

228
I have to admit that since we cut the cord a month or so ago...

I have effing loved it. I didn't even know of some of these antenna channels showing the good oldies existed, like MeTV and Grit channels.

My kids didn't care they just fell right in to choosing their stuff on Amo Prime and Netflix. Plus I am saving a bundle.

Posted by: Guy Mohawk at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (ODxAs)

229 Captains Courageous is the best book to read about the sea written in the 1800's. Every teen should read it.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (sIhFA)

230
You know how I know Star Trek 3 will suck?

Because Justin Lin is directing it. Lin directed a few of the stupid Fast & Furiouses.

Lin also directed two episodes of the upcoming True Detective serial.

Posted by: Soothsayer, Inc. -- The King Unwilling at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (SYMCn)

231 You have to slow down to think about what you are
reading and comprehend each line. It's almost impossible for an
impatient teenager to do that. I read it in HS too but only to get thru
it.
Posted by: freaked

I was 50-something when I read it, and it was hard for me to be patient. I find in many ways I am less patient reading now than 30 years ago. I think because after a certain amount of reading, you start to recognize the outlines of where the story is going because of the similarity to other things you have read.

Posted by: Bossy Conservative....lost in America at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (+1T7c)

232 New season of Trailer Park Boys came out on Netflix. The whole god dam season at the same time. As it should.

Posted by: People Corp at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (TzeLs)

233 unless we manage to help conservative thought infiltrate the toob

We won't let you down!

Posted by: The RNCe at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (iVaFv)

234 Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (sIhFA)

I liked that one enough to read it a couple times as a kid.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:26 PM (GDulk)

235 Ancient Aliens is on, its always on Netflix. Those ancient astronaut theorists.

Posted by: People Corp at April 03, 2015 09:21 PM (TzeLs)

Warehouse 13. but you have to start it from the beginning.

Posted by: TangoNine at April 03, 2015 09:26 PM (x3YFz)

236 Amen.
Cut Cable yesterday.
$100/Mo. for crap. Your article makes me think $100/Mo. for the privilege of being brainwashed.

Won't quite radio and internet, however.

Posted by: EZnSF at April 03, 2015 09:27 PM (rYapg)

237 Captains Courageous is the best book to read about the sea written in the 1800's. Every teen should read it.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:25 PM (sIhFA)

Hard to go wrong with Kipling, and I agree this is a great book.

Posted by: Hrothgar at April 03, 2015 09:27 PM (ftVQq)

238
When we were kids, not a one of us thought about the lives we would live when we were adults and thought, "Some nights, I swear, I'm gonna just come home from work and then watch five hours of TV straight!! Whoopee!!"
TV is compromise, TV is defeat, TV is acceptance, TV is mediocrity.

All truth.
The millenials must think...."when I'm grown up I will stare at this little rectangle in my hand all.day.long."

Posted by: eleven at April 03, 2015 09:28 PM (MDgS8)

239 If the boob tube was more about the boobs it would all make sense.

Posted by: wth at April 03, 2015 09:28 PM (wAQA5)

240 Oh and I just discovered that Neverwinter is free on Xbox one. Downloading as we speak.

I should be sleeping but I'm a nerd so...

Posted by: TangoNine at April 03, 2015 09:29 PM (x3YFz)

241 I've still got 300 videotapes, 75 laserdiscs, 50 CED videodiscs, a 2tb hard drive filled with video, and even a few 8mm films. I can be entertained for 20 years.

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 09:29 PM (MMC8r)

242
My niece is getting stoop shouldered from that fucking iphone.

It makes me sad.

She's awesome when she isn't mesmerized.

Posted by: eleven at April 03, 2015 09:29 PM (MDgS8)

243 publius,

yeah, solid poem too.

Posted by: ace at April 03, 2015 09:30 PM (PA7DS)

244 I'm in, have been for two years. That's when I took my 32" flat screen to the corner of my street in Hollywood (it was gone in 5 minutes). I have no TV. Unfortunately, I probably spend too much time on the internet -- but I care about my country and need to stay informed about how the battle goes.

Posted by: rrpjr at April 03, 2015 09:30 PM (s/yC1)

245 Captains Courageous is the best book to read about the sea written in the 1800's. Every teen should read it.

That is true. And to their suprise they mght like it.

Posted by: freaked at April 03, 2015 09:30 PM (JdEZJ)

246 I haven't watched actual TEE VEE in like five years now. Oh, I still see some shows here and there, just on my own terms. But yeah, no cable or satellite.

Posted by: holygoat at April 03, 2015 09:30 PM (/v7Q7)

247 EVERYTHING is available for free streaming online. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UXIRP6Q

Why feed the DNC?

Posted by: Valiant at April 03, 2015 09:31 PM (4rlxS)

248 "Okay where are our gun people to defend the sportsman channel and the number of gun shows they have?"

Do watch those especially on weekend mornings.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 09:32 PM (SFPWo)

249 i stopped watching TV years ago, nor do i go to movies much (last one was Gran Torino). i buy used books music, in part because i'm out of the w*rkforce, and a broke mofo, but also because i'm a cheap bastage, even when i have money.

i've proposed more than once here, in appropriate threads that the horde stop supporting their enemies in the MFM, only to be attacked by the media junkies who can't live without their daily/weekly supply of swill.

Ernie Kovacs was right: "Television: A medium. So called because it's neither rare nor well done."

kill your television and get a life. besides, you'll impoverish some of the elitist swine in my neighborhood, and that couldn't happen to a more deserving collection of assholes. fuck Hollyweird and the assholes who w*rk in "The Industry"...

Posted by: redc1c4 at April 03, 2015 09:32 PM (pZtrP)

250 Warehouse 13. but you have to start it from the beginning.
Posted by: TangoNine at April 03, 2015 09:26 PM (x3YFz)
--
Just looked it up as I have never heard of it, Netflix wanted to know if I wanted to continue season 3 episode 4. That must have been one hell of a drinking night.

Posted by: People Corp at April 03, 2015 09:32 PM (TzeLs)

251 Yes, cut your cable/satellite service. It is literally piping trash into your house.

Posted by: Onlooker at April 03, 2015 09:33 PM (+f7nz)

252 EVERYTHING is available for free streaming online.

Errr, after you pay for your internet.

Posted by: t-bird at April 03, 2015 09:34 PM (iVaFv)

253 @122: "We desparately want to believe, deep down, that the country is really
full of decent people who are being ignored, and someday the worm will
turn."

The good guys don't always win; Hell, they may not even be batting .500.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at April 03, 2015 09:34 PM (amQXf)

254 I read oh, a couple of sentences and skipped to "start small"

I disagree.

Remove it/them from the home. Easy. It really is that simple.

You'll be surprised how easy it is if you just get rid of it. Hell, you got a computer still. There was a real good window there, during my first five years sans-teevee where it freed up enormous time. These days, another ten years in? Eh, the pc can be just as great a time-suck but I'm still not subject to the same level of mind-rot

Plus, tentacle pron.

Posted by: TJ Camper at April 03, 2015 09:34 PM (7d8Ef)

255 Had to stop while you're talking about DOING stuff and say that we have noticed (and considered ourselves as we watched) that tv show characters rarely watch tv. Paige in The Americans was watching a soap or something this week, but we can't think of many other instances other than Friends when they are all TOGETHER watching something that tv characters are watching TV.

Back to the essay.

Posted by: beavis and butthead at April 03, 2015 09:36 PM (6E2VN)

256 Exactly......TV sucks and it doesn't even have pr0n@!!111

Posted by: eleven at April 03, 2015 09:36 PM (MDgS8)

257 @125: "Big businesses such as Apple have gone all in on Indiana, raise 'em back
by endorsing and voting for a higher minimum wage and increased
business taxes, above a small business friendly number of employees or
annual revenue limit.

Turn the weapon of government around and give them the pointy end."

*maniacal laughter*

Oh wait...you're serious? In that case, let me laugh even harder!

Posted by: Nancy "Yeah, about that minimum wage thing...." Pelosi at April 03, 2015 09:36 PM (amQXf)

258 I want to recommend librivox.org as well. Public domain books read by volunteers to be listened to for free. Being volunteers, the quality of reader does vary wildly and many are not 'English as first language' but there are a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction and it's at least better than most TV.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:36 PM (GDulk)

259 The good guys don't always win; Hell, they may not even be batting .500.

Usually we find that the 'good' guys are the worse guys in masquerade.

Posted by: the Christians in Syria at April 03, 2015 09:37 PM (AVEe1)

260 Re: Moby Dick. Call Me Ishmael is one of the most memorable opening lines in all literature. It was a dark and dreary November of my soul.

Posted by: Northernlurker at April 03, 2015 09:37 PM (4+sJl)

261 We gave up TV for Lent - about 10 years ago. After Easter, just never turned it back on. Got rid of the cable ($) after a couple months and don't miss it at all. I think, coincidentally, movie quality (content) took a dive around the same time, so we never really felt like we were missing anything.

Posted by: Susan Lee at April 03, 2015 09:37 PM (7FTn9)

262
245 Captains Courageous is the best book to read about the sea written in the 1800's. Every teen should read it.

Looked that up ... Rudyard Kipling, nice.

Also neat trivia:

He used a railroad magnate friend to get a detailed realistic timetable for a cross country urgent railroad run, 87 hours 35 minutes.

Another railroad magnate, after reading the book, was inspired to beat that time on the same route, and succeeded.

Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 09:37 PM (0NdlF)

263 Except for online movies, primarily, I gave up cable shows several years ago. It devours your free time, and yes, television creates a mental fog if watched too long. Relationships can't flourish if you spend your time watching instead of having interesting talks or, doing something enjoyable together. Television addiction dulls your life. Of course too much internet can eliminate valuable real life experience as well. But at least the internet gives me far more choice than television.

Posted by: I'd rather be surfin at April 03, 2015 09:38 PM (ZDz2H)

264 Posted by: ConservativeMonster at April 03, 2015 09:37 PM (0NdlF)

That's cool. Never occurred to me that it was that factual.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:39 PM (GDulk)

265 A little over a year ago I decided to seriously learn to play the piano.

I watch virtually no television now except odd sports game and the occasional home improvement or cooking show.

Get a serious hobby and eliminating tv could be easy.

Posted by: Kreplach at April 03, 2015 09:39 PM (BJLGz)

266
Fartknocker Express by Tolstoy is awesome.

Check it out.

Posted by: eleven at April 03, 2015 09:39 PM (MDgS8)

267 258 I want to recommend librivox.org as well. Public domain books read by volunteers to be listened to for free. Being volunteers, the quality of reader does vary wildly and many are not 'English as first language' but there are a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction and it's at least better than most TV.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:36 PM (GDulk)

In this context, and to buff my nerd credentials to a high gloss, I recommend "freevideolectures.com" and "openculture.com," each of which has lots of really interesting stuff.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 09:40 PM (oKE6c)

268 Another railroad magnate, after reading the book, was inspired to beat that time on the same route, and succeeded.
Posted by: ConservativeMonster

Cornelius Tunt?

Posted by: weft cut-Archer at April 03, 2015 09:40 PM (JBzwC)

269 If you're a spaceflight fan, buy an L2 subscription at NASASpaceflight.com:

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/l2/

You'll starve to death before you finish watching and reading everything they have there.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 09:40 PM (sdi6R)

270 And remember, when you've unplugged and cut the cord and are living mindfully and doing something - don't be using your cell phone, holding it, checking it, slave to it.

Posted by: disconnect at April 03, 2015 09:42 PM (fG412)

271 "French news" is a euphemism for "porn," amirite?

Posted by: sans_sheriff at April 03, 2015 09:42 PM (dBAgi)

272 I find my Monarch Programing comes across much better on the Internet anyway...

Posted by: Lady Gaga's One Eye at April 03, 2015 09:42 PM (92L+g)

273 There's a show on now that is totally just watching people, in the living rooms, watching tv.

Posted by: otho at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM (tBSrv)

274 Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 09:40 PM (oKE6c)

Thanks. Bookmarked both of those.

At the beginning of the year Eldest Kidlet started an online private school called K-12 Online. One thing it offers is math and English refresher courses for the parents. I've done a couple, but really need to do more. The issue at this point is *Horde* addiction. I just can't quit you guys.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM (GDulk)

275 Disagree. TV for me is a information infusion machine. I thrive on learning about things and I think TV is one of the most efficient tools to do this if you know how to separate the chafe from the wheat.
Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 08:32 PM

I'm curious as to what on TV you find to be such an "information infusion machine".

Posted by: Farmer at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM (o/90i)

276 "Fartknocker Express by Tolstoy is awesome."

Heh, that's not a real book.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM (SFPWo)

277 Archive.org has a lot of neat public domain stuff in its old TV and movie archives. I used to rat around there a lot.

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM (MMC8r)

278 I totally cut out TV news about 10 years ago. Every now and then I'll be exposed to a few minutes of TV news somewhere and I think that I can't believe I used to consume that garbage. I imagine it's like a drug addict that's been detoxified seeing old friends and thinking "that was me?"

Posted by: Mark1971 at April 03, 2015 09:45 PM (gYVbv)

279 @203

On metalcasting, make sure you get Gingery's books "Build Your Own Metalworking Shop from Scrap: Series Set".

Casting aluminum just a heck of a lot easier than some of the other metals. Tough to actually do with aluminum cans, but nice to know in a pinch.

After reading, you can make a very short list of "Ok, which pieces could I -not- manage? Which bits, and tools are too irritiating?"

Posted by: Alan at April 03, 2015 09:45 PM (ZkOKz)

280 @143: "He knew what was coming 50 years ago."

Anyone with average situational awareness could figure out as soon as they became old enough to observe things critically. For all this talk of the Left "dropping the mask," there never really was one. As Costner's character said in "Open Range": "Most time, a man will tell you his bad intentions if you listen, let yourself hear."

Posted by: Nancy at April 03, 2015 09:45 PM (amQXf)

281 I see Ms. Stutzman is gettin' some GoFundMe love.

Nice.

Not a fcuking thing hypothetical about her. She's been ORDERED by The Court to design, deliver, and set up flowers for SSM ceremonies against her will and in violation of her conscience.

She is awaiting the bombshell of court costs of the fascist vermin that did it to her.

http://tinyurl.com/q6z8v5g ---- (GFM page)

http://tinyurl.com/qf2eju4 --- (wiki page)

Posted by: TJ Camper at April 03, 2015 09:45 PM (7d8Ef)

282 But I'm on TV! How will you ever learn science?

Posted by: Kneel DeGrasse Tyson at April 03, 2015 09:46 PM (iVaFv)

283 Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM (MMC8r)

Librivox appears to be connected to Archive.com in some way (as in, if my browser crashes that's what the tab tries to go to instead of what I was listening to).

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:47 PM (GDulk)

284 And NOW I check down the page to see it was on the main page too.

oops

Posted by: TJ Camper at April 03, 2015 09:47 PM (7d8Ef)

285 @135: ""increased business taxes"

No NO increased business regulations and HIGHER personal income taxes, dividend taxes, and above all capital gains taxes.

Also, no foundations or trusts to escape higher death taxes."

And don't forget to disallow depreciation.

Posted by: Fa Cube Itches at April 03, 2015 09:48 PM (amQXf)

286 Posted by: Kreplach at April 03, 2015 09:39 PM (BJLGz)

I'm watching my hobby now on TV. The Golf Channel. Shell Houston Open. I'll be seeing it live this weekend.

Posted by: Cruzinator at April 03, 2015 09:48 PM (sIhFA)

287 I stopped watching broadcast TV years ago- about the time Firefly was cancelled.

Negative effects have been minimal. I still get news via the internet, but filtered through content aggregators I trust (Insty, RCP, Drudge), instead of media I don't.

I do feel mildly alienated from the general culture. I have no idea what the current popular shows are, but I can wait until Agents of Shield is on Netflix.

I am occasionally appalled by the current 'popular' thing, usually because it strikes me as being crude and vulgar.

Might be willing to go back to watching it if they brought back Firefly.

Every man has his price.

Posted by: rosignol at April 03, 2015 09:48 PM (B7FlU)

288 281 I see Ms. Stutzman is gettin' some GoFundMe love.

Nice.

Posted by: TJ Camper at April 03, 2015 09:45 PM (7d8Ef)

It looks like there have been over 100 donors since I started watching earlier tonight.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 09:50 PM (sdi6R)

289 You watch the French news with that real hot anchor chick?Two birds with one stone.

Posted by: steevy at April 03, 2015 09:50 PM (KETbL)

290 "Fartknocker Express by Tolstoy is awesome."Heh, that's not a real book.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 09:44 PM

Actually, it is. It was written early on under the name "Dick Hardens". The book has only recently been recognized as Tolstoy's.

Posted by: otho at April 03, 2015 09:50 PM (tBSrv)

291 We've cut the satellite off in the spring for the last two years, and kept it off until college football season starts. It was surprisingly easy. I'm waiting until the finale of Justified then it's going off again, too many other things to do to around here. If there was an easy way to get SEC games in Iowa without DirecTV, I'd just as soon leave it off indefinitely.

Posted by: Vitigator at April 03, 2015 09:50 PM (QdIbC)

292
I am occasionally appalled by the current 'popular' thing, usually because it strikes me as being crude and vulgar.

Might be willing to go back to watching it if they brought back Firefly.

Every man has his price.

You're missing no thing.

Nothing.

Cable has so "this is how we do it" type stuff that I miss.

But that's about it. And I get most of the sports I care about on my antenna.

Posted by: eleven at April 03, 2015 09:51 PM (MDgS8)

293 281 I see Ms. Stutzman is gettin' some GoFundMe love.

Someone might tweet Dana and see if she'll mention this lady being in a similar bind. Might as well see if the goodwill can continue...

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 09:51 PM (MMC8r)

294 @198: "Print is dead."

And so am I!

Posted by: Dr. Egon Spengler at April 03, 2015 09:52 PM (amQXf)

295 The only thing I watch on TV is TWD, and that show is starting to lose me.

When I lived alone, the only time my TV was on was when I felt like popping in a DVD.

Posted by: Burn the Witch at April 03, 2015 09:53 PM (xSCb6)

296 Every night when we get in bed, staring at the smaller of the 3 bigass teevee's, I ask my beautiful wife- "anything interesting happening in Alaska?"

Then we sleep through some gold mining or idiots at risk in God's country.

That and Fox news, it's all I watch, at >$250/month?

But I also know that's less Moo Moo makes in a minute

Posted by: JDub (was BunkerintheBurbs) at April 03, 2015 09:54 PM (X3xYu)

297
You know who does good religious documentaries? Poirot, aka, David Suchet. He's a believer and has done docs on both St Paul and St Peter

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 03, 2015 09:56 PM (iQIUe)

298 * beep, beep *

Posted by: Mr. Hawaiian Dress in his Celica at April 03, 2015 09:56 PM (JBzwC)

299 I spend more time with the damn iPad then I do with the TV.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at April 03, 2015 09:57 PM (YOPoU)

300 Actually, it is. It was written early on under the name "Dick Hardens". The book has only recently been recognized as Tolstoy's.

Posted by: otho at April 03, 2015 09:50 PM (tBSrv)

Even Tolstoy had his salad days.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 03, 2015 09:57 PM (oFCZn)

301 @202: "Basically we have to fight a William Tecumseh Shermanesque fight against
the fascist who are now on the cusp of governmentally deligitimizing
the Christian faith and enshrining the leftist and specifically
homosexual sensibilities of acceptable conscience with regards their
lifestyle."

The problem is, nobody remembers what "fighting" really means.

Posted by: Nathan Bedford Forrest at April 03, 2015 09:57 PM (amQXf)

302 Posted by: eleven at April 03, 2015 09:51 PM (MDgS

I've been watching a lot of "how-to" videos on YouTube. It's amazing how much easier and cheaper getting knowledge *can* be. I remember how twenty years ago (heck, maybe closer to ten) if the information wasn't in the library or a common book likely to be in used bookstores, the expense and time consumption of tracking something down was pretty daunting.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:58 PM (GDulk)

303 Not on TCM, MeTV or Encore Westerns channel.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 03, 2015 09:01 PM (W5DcG)

The old movies and TV shows are better than any of the crap that's on or out there now

Posted by: TheQuietMan at April 03, 2015 09:59 PM (3UGBQ)

304 Getting off TV is probably good for you but that's defense more or less.

What about if you left the TV on - all the time on MSNBC muted and let it go for a month. Then switch it to Cartoon Network for the next month.

Coordinate that sort of activity for 6 months across a lot of people and demographics and you'd break a lot of prediction models.

That affects their pocketbooks.

Posted by: aj at April 03, 2015 09:59 PM (dHkgR)

305 WE are not the problem. We understand the leftist bullshit so we won't be swayed by it...It is the Low Info crowd that needs to unplug! But I am totally in favor of depriving the matrix of their ratings and therefore their cash flow from advertisers as a result.

Posted by: Dan at April 03, 2015 10:00 PM (COpZ4)

306 I fear GoFundMe abusers may pop up.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 03, 2015 10:00 PM (W5DcG)

307 11

So, what's Ace trying to tell us? He's going out tonite? He's got a date? With a real live girl???

Posted by: Bruce J

Hobo Hunting, duh.

I watch the Weather Channel when they have weather on, otherwise it's off till college football season and then I might watch one or two games a weekend but usually I'm outside in the garden or out in the shop working wrenches on the current motorcycle I'm refurbishing.

Posted by: Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preperation... at April 03, 2015 10:00 PM (74McK)

308 i will give up my tee vee when they pry it from my cold dead hands. srsly, Ace? i thought you were better than that.

Posted by: Peaches at April 03, 2015 10:00 PM (EgOr3)

309 I know this may be news to some...

http://tinyurl.com/plofyf9

I haven't had TV for 15 years. I missed out on nothing. I guess people are scrambling to keep up with the nerds now.

Posted by: annoyamouse at April 03, 2015 10:00 PM (6wBqD)

310 Even Tolstoy had his salad days.

From here on, may we further refrain from mentioning salad?

Posted by: Brian Williams at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (Dwehj)

311 Football, hockey, fishing & some PBS (I like English crime shows)

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (YOPoU)

312 Jim Brady just died.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (W5DcG)

313 My day.
Up at 7am, let dog out and in.
read papers telling me things that I already knew from here.

Did crosswords, 1 hour for morning threads.

Yard work for 3 hours, made lunch,
Watched "The Passion" dvd.

prepped dinner, watched hockey.

now I'm here.
A good day of no tv brainwash.

Posted by: seamrog at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (2dfHg)

314 Oops, Sarah.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (W5DcG)

315 302
I've been watching a lot of "how-to" videos on YouTube.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 09:58 PM (GDulk)

"Crazy Russian Hacker" is pretty neat.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (sdi6R)

316 Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (MMVqr)
-------------------------
There's a name I haven't seen in a very long time...

And ace - let me know when you're reading Call Of The Wild for book club.

Posted by: shredded chi at April 03, 2015 10:02 PM (iVV84)

317
308 i will give up my tee vee when they pry it from my cold dead hands. srsly, Ace? i thought you were better than that.
Posted by: Peaches at April 03, 2015 10:00

That's our Peaches

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at April 03, 2015 10:02 PM (YOPoU)

318 MH I get my UK crime drama fix off Amazon Prime...

Posted by: OG Celtic-American at April 03, 2015 10:02 PM (92L+g)

319 Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (sdi6R)

Lol, embroidery, weaving, and soap making in my case.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 10:03 PM (GDulk)

320 I shot my TV once. That girlfriend stealer Robert Goulet was on it so I shot the picture out. Thank you, thank you very much!

Posted by: Big E at April 03, 2015 10:03 PM (JO9+V)

321 Not a problem Zombie, just trying to strike a different chord.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 03, 2015 10:03 PM (q3ld8)

322 Nice article Ace. Mom always called it the idiot box. She was right. I have addicted myself to having it on all the time even just for background noise. You are right, other chores and enjoyment suffer.

If I had to make a choice, I would choose Ace over TV. I don't watch any network stuff, I usually have on old dorky stuff. Waltons, Little House, Bonanza, Big Valley. But you are right, it a time suck.

Not sure I can go cold turkey, maybe wean myself. I wish we could have a pick your own. Maybe cold turkey is the best way.

Posted by: Infidel at April 03, 2015 10:03 PM (7KQS/)

323 Jim Brady just died.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (W5DcG)

wow, he got a lot more time than I would have thought, so there's that. prayers up for the fam.

Posted by: Peaches at April 03, 2015 10:04 PM (EgOr3)

324 Posted by: Peaches at April 03, 2015 10:00

That's what YouTube is for Peaches.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at April 03, 2015 10:04 PM (GDulk)

325 Jim Brady just died

Umm, he died last year. Sarah Brady just died.

Posted by: no good deed at April 03, 2015 10:05 PM (ZKGnj)

326 Big $1000+ jump for Baronelle....

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 10:05 PM (MMC8r)

327 Jim Brady from the gun bill Brady?

bless the family.

Posted by: Infidel at April 03, 2015 10:05 PM (7KQS/)

328 Sarah died, or Jim?

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 10:06 PM (MMC8r)

329 oh, good grief, he died last August. need to tighten up your shit, hapless commenters.

Posted by: Peaches at April 03, 2015 10:06 PM (EgOr3)

330
Dennis Hopper is dead.

Posted by: Soothsayer, Inc. -- The King Unwilling at April 03, 2015 10:06 PM (SYMCn)

331
318 MH I get my UK crime drama fix off Amazon Prime...
Posted by: OG Celtic-American at April 03, 2015 10:02 PM (92L+g)

Thanks. We also,get Netflix.

Summer will be here soon. At the cabin no tv, no pc, he'll no electricity so there's 48 hours of no tv

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at April 03, 2015 10:06 PM (YOPoU)

332 325 Jim Brady just died

Umm, he died last year. Sarah Brady just died.

Posted by: no good deed at April 03, 2015 10:05 PM (ZKGnj)

The best way to remember her life is to ban all guns.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 03, 2015 10:06 PM (oFCZn)

333

Cindy Brady died?

She was my 2nd favorite Brady kid.

Posted by: Soothsayer, Inc. -- The King Unwilling at April 03, 2015 10:07 PM (SYMCn)

334 325 Jim Brady just died

Umm, he died last year. Sarah Brady just died.
Posted by: no good deed at April 03, 2015 10

No tears shed here.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at April 03, 2015 10:07 PM (YOPoU)

335 Three years in the sandbox taught me the importance of having a good laptop or DVD player...I still have most of my DVDs that I would buy at the haji store.

I watched Ben Hur today, which was the only TV I watched this week thus far.

Thank God for Roku.

Posted by: SMFH at it all at April 03, 2015 10:07 PM (OsWis)

336 What are we discussing?

Posted by: Abe Vigoda at April 03, 2015 10:07 PM (Dwehj)

337 Every night when we get in bed, staring at the smaller of the 3 bigass teevee's, I ask my beautiful wife- "anything interesting happening in Alaska?"
Then we sleep through some gold mining or idiots at risk in God's country.
That and Fox news, it's all I watch, at >$250/month?

But I also know that's less Moo Moo makes in a minute
Posted by: JDub (was BunkerintheBurbs) at April 03, 2015 09:54 PM

Every night when we get in bed, staring at the smaller of the 3 bigass teevee's, I ask my beautiful wife- "anything interesting happening in Alaska?"

Then we sleep through some gold mining or idiots at risk in God's country.

That and Fox news, it's all I watch, at >$250/month?

But I also know that's less Moo Moo makes in a minute

Posted by: JDub (was BunkerintheBurbs) at April 03, 2015 09:54 PM

What is the truth here?

Posted by: Farmer at April 03, 2015 10:07 PM (o/90i)

338 Killing tv is a good idea. Once you kill the tv, you will find that you don't really miss it. I went three years without tv. I listened to the radio instead. I do watch tv now, but mostly movies or the news. cutting cable would make a big difference. If millions of people cut the cable all at once and did not come back, yeah, that would have an impact. Still, this is cutting ourselves off from culture and retreating. Instead, perhaps we need to get our own cable channels, our own tv shows, and our own movies. This would require challenging the media complex at their own game. It would take a lot of time, but it would be worth it. The reason Hollywood is so liberal is because libs go into the industry. Conservatives I guess think that you have to be a lib to be creative and artistic. Nothing could be further from the truth. We need more Conservatives in academia, education, law, entertainment, music, the arts in general. We need more Mamets and Eastwoods. We need to influence culture instead of just retreat from the whole mess that it has become. Retreat may be necessary in the short term, but in the long term, we have to make a contribution in order to challenge the status quo of empty ugly ideas.

Posted by: Mistress Overdone at April 03, 2015 10:07 PM (2/oBD)

339 Dennis Hopper is dead.

still . . . go figure.

Posted by: Peaches at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (EgOr3)

340 This just in: Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (sdi6R)

341
RIP Sarah Lee

Posted by: Soothsayer, Inc. -- The King Unwilling at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (SYMCn)

342 Wait, what happened to Jan Brady?

Posted by: guy who watches too much TV at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (95Kut)

343 I do the Gingery casting a bit. I've also avoided tv for years. The thing I notice if the wife has something on when we're talking is how SLOW tv is, isn't there a place to hit the ff button and move it along. I read a lot here too, usually several windeows open at a time.

Posted by: Bill sometimes Bill from Canada at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (k1/xB)

344 241
I've still got 300 videotapes, 75 laserdiscs, 50 CED videodiscs, a 2tb
hard drive filled with video, and even a few 8mm films. I can be
entertained for 20 years.

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower

You need a good Laserdisc player?

Seriously, you pay shipping and its yours, Still has the remote and comes with a single disc, forget what it was but I just never got into the format, thank God.

I also have 300+ 8 hour VHS tapes that are jammed full of movies from Showtime and HBO back in the early 90's as well as a bunch of sports and some political speeches for posterity.

Posted by: Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preperation... at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (74McK)

345 Every Republican Candidate should be present to buy a pie when they re-open.

Love

Former Supporter of SSM

Posted by: Keith Martin at April 03, 2015 10:09 PM (SqJax)

346 ...also forgot to mention... don't pay for any of the products by Them... that means, yeah, free movies, free music, etc.. don't give Them a dime. Not one if you can help it.

Posted by: Mistress Overdone at April 03, 2015 10:09 PM (2/oBD)

347 RIP Sarah Lee

Nobody didn't like her.

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 10:09 PM (MMC8r)

348 341
RIP Sarah Lee

Posted by: Soothsayer, Inc. -- The King Unwilling at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (SYMCn)

I'll miss her pound cake.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 03, 2015 10:09 PM (oFCZn)

349 325 Jim Brady just died
--
again? Its a cruel god.

Posted by: People Corp at April 03, 2015 10:09 PM (TzeLs)

350 Haven't watched TV in years. The Factor was the last show I watched daily. Still couldn't watch it unless I had a good buzz .

Walking Dead and Archer are the exceptions. I wait until the whole season is available and then watch it over a week end.

I do still watch movies, Net Flicks mostly. Lots of good foreign stuff . Maybe about three hours a week on average.

It's very easy to quit, the vast majority of TV is complete garbage.

Posted by: Goodness at April 03, 2015 10:10 PM (q/J/o)

351 $842K for pizza. Simply amazing.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 03, 2015 10:10 PM (q3ld8)

352
heheh eh heh... "pound"... heheheh

Posted by: beavis at April 03, 2015 10:10 PM (tBSrv)

353 Posted by: Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preperation... at April 03, 2015 10:08 PM (74McK)

8 tracks?

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian at April 03, 2015 10:10 PM (YOPoU)

354 Life is for the living, I always say.

Posted by: Keith Richards at April 03, 2015 10:10 PM (Dwehj)

355 I once snorted an entire pound cake. Delicious.

Posted by: Keith Richards at April 03, 2015 10:11 PM (Dwehj)

356 "Umm, he died last year. Sarah Brady just died."

Wow. That's kinda embarrassing.

Any news on Dennis Hopper?

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (SFPWo)

357 The first time I read this a symbol came to mind, a victory sign with scissors for the V cutting a cord.
Cue the elfman comments.

Posted by: wilbeforce at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (C59A6)

358 Vast wasteland? Chewing gum for the eyes? Yup, all that and then some . I just wish there were some way to get your local baseball live, over the interwebz. Haven't figured that one out yet.

Posted by: MrNatural at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (/pOl7)

359 Matthew Harrison Brady is dead.

Posted by: despair at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (J6suc)

360 I cut the cable the day after the last episode of "The Sopranos" and haven't missed it since. I got "Breaking Bad" on iTunes and now I'm getting "Better Call Saul" the same way. That's it. Cable news? A joke, has been for years. With an internet connection for info on demand, and the great outdoors for unplugging and exploration, it *can* be done.

Ace: If a Liberal can do it...just sayin'. ;-)

Posted by: A Liberal AoS Reader, Really! at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (+as5V)

361 You need a good Laserdisc player?

Seriously, you pay shipping
and its yours, Still has the remote and comes with a single disc,
forget what it was but I just never got into the format, thank God.

Are you kidding? Absolutely, I've been looking for a backup, because the one I have was built in 1990.

Contact me at

mk6webley

at

gmail -dot- com

and I'll do what you need done.

Thanks a million!

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (MMC8r)

362 Not sure I could live without TCM. Most of the movies I find on line suck.

Posted by: Infidel at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (7KQS/)

363 Found my dad's honorable discharge papers today. Didn't realize he was in OCS. He never said a word about his time in the Marines (or most anything, for that matter).

Posted by: t-bird at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (iVaFv)

364 For the people with Roku, you may want to check out sling tv. Between that and Netflix I never watch the alphabet SJW's anymore.

Posted by: Chavez the Hugo at April 03, 2015 10:12 PM (ucDmr)

365
little Sophia turned into a zombie

Posted by: Soothsayer, Inc. -- The King Unwilling at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (SYMCn)

366 I live 550 miles from the nearest affiliate of the MIGHTY ORIOLES. So any quitting cable thing will have to wait until they're mathematically eliminated.

Around mid-July, then.

Posted by: DC in River City at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (e+1S5)

367 Sigh.

My sleep room at this site is an elderly assisted living wing.

Just got in trouble for having James Brown's 'Payback' up too loud.

So, FUCK 'EM!

Time for Dope's 'Die Motherfucker Die'

Posted by: OG Celtic-American at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (92L+g)

368 334
325 Jim Brady just died

Umm, he died last year. Sarah Brady just died.

Posted by: no good deed at April 03, 2015 10

No tears shed here.

Posted by: Misanthropic Humanitarian

I wouldn't pee on her if she was on fire, and right now it is my sincerest hope that she is sitting right next to Teddy 'The Runt' Kennedy, Saddam and a few other worthless fvcks doing just that for eternity.

No, I did not like her one damn bit.

Posted by: Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preperation... at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (74McK)

369 I quit TV about 2 years ago.

Youtube is my new cablebox.

I have entire lineups of channels for all of my different interests, and here is the cool part...

I don't have to listen to anyone spew their bullshit at me.

If you like building things, and working with your hands, you can't go wrong with Oxtools, Abom79, wranglerstar, doubleboost, paul sellers, or onelonelyfarmer.

You like science stuff? Maybe a little EE, or Chemistry?

Mikeselectricstuff, smartereveryday, periodicvideos, applied science, nurdrage, thunderbolts project, or crazy ass photonicinduction

RC stuff?
hobbyking, (fucking hilarious-> spocktra50, rcmodelreviews, flite test, rcgutt, or nightflyer.

More guns and ammo channels than you could ever imagine...

Outdoors, camping and what not..

pharroh, grubcat, reallybigmonkey1, and the great andrew stanley at thewildnorth channel.

These channels alone have better content than I any program that I have seen on TV in the last 15 years.

and its free.....

Posted by: Jacob's Step Stool at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (VNgld)

370 *ONT is NOOD!*

Posted by: ColdBeer1 (Slap) (T) at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (16bOT)

371 I canceled DirecTV over a year ago. Now I occasionally watch an older series on Hulu, but that's about it. I agree; starve the beast.

Posted by: PabloD at April 03, 2015 10:13 PM (roESk)

372 Sarah Brady, I hated the way she would cart her Husband out and talk how bad guns were.

Posted by: Patrick from Ohio at April 03, 2015 10:14 PM (CxEX+)

373 Shit.

William Henry Harrison just died.

Posted by: Ricardo Kill at April 03, 2015 10:14 PM (SFPWo)

374 346 ...also forgot to mention... don't pay for any of the products by Them...

Absolutely. I never buy from giant ants.

Posted by: despair at April 03, 2015 10:14 PM (J6suc)

375 Who will snap up Alix Bryan and Alyssa Marino? One of the major networks? MSNBC? Rolling Stone?

BTW, ever notice that pretentious progs often have odd names? Named by hippy parents, is my guess.

Posted by: Mike Hammer, etc., etc. at April 03, 2015 10:14 PM (l1zOH)

376 havent watched it for years got my cable turned off after I realized I PAID 300 DOLLARS to watch the superbowl .

Posted by: alec at April 03, 2015 10:15 PM (WUNhl)

377 You have meddled with the primal forces of Nature, Mr. Ace!

Posted by: Ned Beatty at April 03, 2015 10:16 PM (nFdGS)

378 I've never watch much TV except sports. We didn't have the electric and all when I was a wee lass, so I never got in the habit, and nothing other than sports impressed me much once we got one. I did get all into HGTV when it first came out, and I loved Martha Stewart's show at first, but they both have changed so much I haven't watched them in years.

Thor is a huge TV watcher, but he got pissed at DirecTV and cancelled a few weeks ago. He doesn't miss it a bit. When he's here, he goes over to my mama's to watch Survivor, but I think the only other shows he really liked enough to track down he can watch online.

Posted by: Tammy al-Thor at April 03, 2015 10:16 PM (hSqFt)

379 Have not owned a television for over 5 years now. On good days I can quote some Kipling or Whitman, and on better days I improve on a moderately killer acoustic version of Dylan and Harrison's 'If not for you'.

Bad days are when I realize how few around me see the storm on the horizon.

Posted by: The Drama Daddy at April 03, 2015 10:18 PM (yhjJ1)

380 351 $842K for pizza. Simply amazing.
Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 03, 2015 10:10 PM (q3ld

$45,000 for flowers. Up over $5000 since earlier this evening, and that GoFundMe has been up for a month.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 10:20 PM (sdi6R)

381 I was just reading some ideas on how to legally get around the state declaring you must do the ghey or be destroyed. What Joe's flower shop, or Fred's wedding catering emporium must do is to set itself up not as a service to the general public, but as a "private club/member's only" type of thing.

Joe's or Fred's could still serve the general public for say walks who want to buy flowers or whatever, but for weddings (or other thing the lunatics try to make Ghey), they are contract only with "private clubs". Said private clubs could be churches.

Now, assuming the left-lunatics don't go so far as to force churches at state gunpoint to conduct gay weddings (they will if they can, mind you), then if Joe's or Fred's only contracts with those churches, they should be okay.

Or they could go so far as to set up a "Christian Marriage club" or something that is explicitly sectarian and not for the general public.

You'd need some serious legal talent to get the wording and details worked out, but from what I'm reading, this may be the way to get around it and stay in business.

Posted by: publius (not Breitbart publius) at April 03, 2015 10:23 PM (dvuhZ)

382 I cute cable two years ago because I had a new baby and it suddenly all seemed like a portal to filth. Once I got of the habit of having a tv on all of the time, my tastes in shows changed. I watched things I really wanted to see on Netflix. But then, as time went on, the shows that I really wanted to see got fewer and fewer.

I barely watch two hours of anything per month at this point. I'm happy not to be seeping in the lefty garbage anymore.

Posted by: Polly at April 03, 2015 10:23 PM (WbnMS)

383 361
You need a good Laserdisc player?

Seriously, you pay shipping

and its yours, Still has the remote and comes with a single disc,

forget what it was but I just never got into the format, thank God.

Are you kidding? Absolutely, I've been looking for a backup, because the one I have was built in 1990.

Contact me at

mk6webley

at

gmail -dot- com

and I'll do what you need done.

Thanks a million!

Posted by: Zap Rowsdower

Picture of the instruction booklet and an email from my primary should be arriving in your inbox shortly.

It's heavy as all so I'll see if I can make a box packed with foam to ship it.

The disc is a two disk set, 9 1/2 Weeks...

Posted by: Gmac- Pulling in feelers in preperation... at April 03, 2015 10:31 PM (74McK)

384 I haven't watched TV in over six years now. Don't miss it one bit.

Posted by: model_1066 at April 03, 2015 10:34 PM (WEvvb)

385 Farmer I don't get the question?

Posted by: JDub (was BunkerintheBurbs) at April 03, 2015 10:36 PM (X3xYu)

386 "Spanish Pipedream" by John Prine

She was a level-headed dancer on the road to alcohol
And I was just a soldier on my way to Montreal
Well she pressed her chest against me
About the time the juke box broke
Yeah, she gave me a peck on the back of the neck
And these are the words she spoke

[Chorus:]
Blow up your TV throw away your paper
Go to the country, build you a home
Plant a little garden, eat a lot of peaches
Try an find Jesus on your own

Well, I sat there at the table and I acted real naive
For I knew that topless lady had something up her sleeve
Well, she danced around the bar room and she did the hoochy-coo
Yeah she sang her song all night long, tellin' me what to do

[Chorus]

Well, I was young and hungry and about to leave that place
When just as I was leavin', well she looked me in the face
I said "You must know the answer."
"She said, "No but I'll give it a try."
And to this very day we've been livin' our way
And here is the reason why

We blew up our TV threw away our paper
Went to the country, built us a home
Had a lot of children, fed 'em on peaches
They all found Jesus on their own.

Posted by: OCBill at April 03, 2015 10:37 PM (VCCXE)

387 Whimpy whimpy whimpy. You don't have to hide your children from the world around them. You just need to explain it to them in a reasonable, rational way, presenting both sides of the argument, but explaining why the conservative way is the best way while leaving it to them to decide what's right. Get them interested in the history of the world and our country. Get them interested in how we got where we are. When they get fed the liberal tripe at school and present it to you, be ready to explain reality.

I've raised five kids in super liberal Multnomah county Oregon public schools and didn't shield them from liberal Hollywood, or music, or whatever. The oldest is 31, the youngest is 15. They're all at least as conservative as me, and not sequestered geeks. Three are Marines, two served in Iraq.

I'm not bragging...really, just saying, if you prepare yourself and go about things in a reasonable way, you can beat that system, while staying in it. I think the mistake many people make is raging about it and becoming an object for your kids to rebel against.

No need to become a monk and turn your kids into people that can't function in society.

Posted by: Mark in Portland at April 03, 2015 10:40 PM (kbr2E)

388 "159 No.Don't be fucking stupid.
Posted by: Dave at Garfield Ridge at April 03, 2015 09:06 PM (MMVqr)"

That's old.

Posted by: Cloyd Freud, Unemployed at April 03, 2015 10:43 PM (lG2E3)

389 That is one of my favorite Prine songs,along with "Paradise".

Funny to think the world has gone full circle since then, he was bitching about the EVIL (conservative) military/industrial/media complex.

LOL

Posted by: JDub (was BunkerintheBurbs) at April 03, 2015 10:45 PM (X3xYu)

390 How did it get to the point that we stare at a box (and over the years it's turned into utter crap and filth) for hours on end. We get what we deserve sometimes.

Posted by: Seems Legit at April 03, 2015 10:46 PM (A98Xu)

391
http://goo.gl/MNok5A

What screwed up little cannucks. You have to wonder about the parents, too. Neither seemed too concerned about them.

Posted by: Bruce J. at April 03, 2015 10:49 PM (iQIUe)

392 I can't join you in decreasing my TV watching.

I got rid of my TV about 9 years ago once and for all. Can't watch less and when I mention that I get comments like "Elitist" and "Stuck up"

It is enough to make me want to grow a scruffy beard and drink PBR ironically.

(I kid, I will only cut the bottoms off of my shoes and sit it a tree and learn to play the flute)

Posted by: Kindltot at April 03, 2015 10:54 PM (t//F+)

393 "Crazy Russian Hacker" is pretty neat.

Posted by: rickl at April 03, 2015 10:01 PM (sdi6R)

VERY neat. I love that guy.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 10:54 PM (oKE6c)

394 I've raised five kids in super liberal Multnomah
county Oregon public schools and didn't shield them from liberal
Hollywood, or music, or whatever. The oldest is 31, the youngest is 15.
They're all at least as conservative as me, and not sequestered geeks.
Three are Marines, two served in Iraq.

I'm not bragging...really, just saying, if you prepare yourself and
go about things in a reasonable way, you can beat that system, while
staying in it. I think the mistake many people make is raging about it
and becoming an object for your kids to rebel against.

No need to become a monk and turn your kids into people that can't function in society.

Posted by: Mark in Portland at April 03, 2015 10:40 PM (kbr2E)

Well done.

Posted by: Jay Guevara at April 03, 2015 10:55 PM (oKE6c)

395 I hate TV more than anything. Except "Moonshiners"... But my wife and 3 daughters wouldn't be too happy if I cancelled it. I just asked my 14yo what she thought, and she said "it sounds good, but the new My Little Pony season is about to start". Wife likes the satanic HBO. What can I do?

Posted by: Chris M at April 03, 2015 11:06 PM (6RZos)

396 Killed "DirectTV" a year ago.
Only have "Antenna TV".
Watch the local "NEWS" at 2100 to find-out what happened in NW Washington.
Turn it off.
We really don't miss it.
150 channels and nothing on, but it will cost you $90/month not to watch it...

Posted by: ChrisP at April 03, 2015 11:08 PM (XecMK)

397 Very good. Agree totally. One caveat - for men cutting TV has to mean cutting sports, most of which is on ESPN which is basically as evil as MSNBC x the GOP Leadership x the NYTimes x Zombie Steve Jobs. All the other shows besides sports are for women so they don't expect you to watch anyway.

You can watch the local NFL team play on broadcast TV even though the NFL also is evil. Don't buy their branded crap though.

Posted by: Ben H at April 03, 2015 11:16 PM (/K/GT)

398 We have amazon prime, and we cut off dish to save money. My wife and I like old shows.

I am converting all our DVDs to mp4 files with a tool called WinXDVDRipper which I paid for. I put all the files on a linux samba share, which is served by Plex, which is pretty cool. $500 or so worth of hardware creates your own media server with Plex, it doesn't take an expensive monster amount of hardware to put a media server together. 3Tb drives are $85 so i can afford multiple backups now, which is nice. My own mp4 files means no Digital Rights Management. I *possess* the bits, in clear.

I tried Kodi but prefer plex. This way, we can stream all our DVDs, and have all the tv we could ever want, and yet we can unplug from the contemporary content. I liked the Military Channel, but that's gone now, and Discovery, History etc. channels, they've all just gone down the drain. They're throwing themselves into the road gladly to escape all this hideousness.

DVDs are cheap on amazon now, DVDs are going to go away before too long. We got the Sean Connery James Bond flicks on DVD recently and some other fun stuff, to record to Plex.

If you have any flicks that you would like to pick up on DVD, now is the time. DRM is only going to get bigger, and soon you won't own anything anymore, in the way you used to be able to own a book, or a tape, or a disc, you'll just license. When the Year Zero hits, all that digital content is gonna be rewritten with stuff that BigData wants us to watch. I don't think I'm gonna like those shows.

That's why I stopped buying kindle ebooks and went back to paper. Anybody who thinks these people won't cut us off for all sorts of reasons is in for a rude awakening. And it's not just entertainment, it will be authentication for your accounts, vehicles & facility access, etc. all that will be remotely managed. That's a ways off yet though, I think I'll probably be gone before then. I hope so. These jokers *want* to live in the THX-1138 world, that's what blows me away.

The abolition of property will be trivial when all you ever really "possess" is a temporary access authentication key in your smartphone (or wherever, like in a chip in your arm), and all they have to do to remove your access to the locks on your bank account, the lock on your car or the lock on your front door is to remotely expire that key.

Suddenly, collective ownership is a trivial thing, it's just a side effect of systems architecture. They'll see it as a huge optimization: property just migrates around according to wherever the algorithms say it is most needed. DRM for the physical world--"From each according to it's utility to each according to his key." I wish I could see the whitepapers the aristos must have on this stuff, but that's all Super Top Secret for now.

So yeah. Communism sucks ass.

the revolution will not be televised the revolution will not be televised
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaoXAwl9kw

Posted by: Deputy Director Higgins at April 03, 2015 11:24 PM (IxEWc)

399 We didn't have room for the Christmas Tree AND the TV, so we put the TV in the closet. Four months later the TV is still in the closet, only to come out for an hour per week to watch The Walking Dead, once every couple of months we rent a RedBox.

After two weeks you won't even realize it's gone.

Posted by: Samsung's Last Grope at April 03, 2015 11:41 PM (kyTFr)

400 This is a low-difficulty commitment for me, given that I do not watch TV (although I do Netflix and Hulu). So yeah, I'm in.

Posted by: Parker at April 03, 2015 11:42 PM (U4Grr)

401 That river of effluent known as television is a prison for your mind. I went without a TV for a few years back in the early eighties and didn't miss it. Today I'm a cable cutter and would rather watch cat videos on youtube than any contrived reality show on TV.

Posted by: djl47 at April 03, 2015 11:45 PM (FjBj0)

402 For those of you who say, "my (insert family members here) would hate it," make an executive decision. Be an adult and protect your family from the poison in the black box. Your life, their life, your lives together will only benefit and flourish in a thousand different ways.

Do your family a favor. Cut the cord and celebrate.

Posted by: Samsung's Last Grope at April 03, 2015 11:45 PM (kyTFr)

403 ah i forgot, some of this they do talk about candidly, like "the internet of things" https://www.shodan.io/ that's quite a site to browse through

they are not trying to hide this at all. whether they can pull it off, who knows?

Posted by: Deputy Director Higgins at April 03, 2015 11:45 PM (IxEWc)

404 I didn't so much give up TV, TV became un-watchable to me, I still watch a movie or show on Netflix once in a while, but I literally can not watch regular TV anymore, it's poison sure, it's also boring, uninteresting, unoriginal, unthoughtful, uncreative and even if it weren't those things, even if they showed something on there worth watching it would still be unwatchable due to the commercials every 15 minutes.

Posted by: Shoey at April 04, 2015 12:05 AM (vA94g)

405 Most TV is awful anyway. There are maybe 3 or 4 things on TV worth watching.

Spend your time on something worthwhile, that you'll look back on fondly someday, like internet porn.

Posted by: TallDave at April 04, 2015 12:08 AM (74ZYB)

406 I want to see Ace's computer before i believe he "quit watching TV." Watching Blue Bloods on Amazon still counts as watching TV in my book.

Posted by: hurricane567 at April 04, 2015 12:09 AM (WvmTs)

407 $842K for pizza. Simply amazing.

No. That's not for pizza.

That's $842,283 worth of Fuck You to bullies who think it's okay to destroy someone's livelihood because they hold a different opinion.

Posted by: rosignol at April 04, 2015 12:18 AM (B7FlU)

408 I haven't owned a teevee in almost 20 years, although I watch a (very) few shows on the intarwebs. ESPN can choke on cacks. They get something absurd, like $7 for every cable bill every month. Fuck that.

Posted by: skh.pcola at April 04, 2015 12:24 AM (qfLzS)

409 I ditched cable 10 years ago. Now, when I'm visiting family members or friends who have TV, it drives me batshit insane to listen to all the commercials and assorted crap broadcast 24/7. If there's something I really want to see, I'll catch it on Netflix or Amazon. I mostly use my TV for watching the occasional movie... I can go days or weeks without ever turning it on.

Posted by: pork_chop at April 04, 2015 12:27 AM (nw9as)

410 This isn't just about TV, or how you spend your time.

Reading through this thread, I think just about everyone here, and this is a group of mostly serious, thoughtful people, are coming to the same conclusion.

There is no saving, there is no salvaging, there is no reforming of this culture possible any more. it's too late, that ship has sailed. This culture is going to destroy itself, and that's not a bad thing, because it deserves to be destroyed.

But when it burns, much of what we love and cherish about this place, and about our lives, is going to burn with it, because that's the nature of cultural collapses. We can work out ways to survive, and maybe save parts.

But this nation, this country, is going to fall, and we can't stop it. And I think we all know that, deep in our hearts. America is dead.

Posted by: Tom Servo at April 04, 2015 12:33 AM (V2Yro)

411 I cut cable TV in 1998 and have not looked back since. I think of all the money and brain damage this has saved me over the years and consider it one of my better moves. Even more so than (finally for good) quitting smoking ten years later.

Sure, I'll still watch stuff here and there at other peoples' homes and waste plenty of time on YouTube and other internet spots partaking of assorted video bubble gum. I'm certainly not making myself out to be some holier-that-thou dude in full control of his viewing habits. But I do encourage everyone else out there that YES it can be done. Like knocking off carbs or smokes or whatever, it takes some getting use to at first. But it's worth it! And you'll soon find there are SO MANY BETTER WAYS to spend your time, money, and life in general.

If I can do it....YOU CAN DO IT!

Seriously, you can.... please do!

Posted by: Mark Asread at April 04, 2015 12:40 AM (CtjOo)

412 >>> I feel so hopeless about the political situation I've begun looking for Hail Mary solutions.

Hail Mary solutions are actually not a bad idea, Ace.

Posted by: Beth at April 04, 2015 01:16 AM (Epq7Y)

413 I hate TV more than anything. Except "Moonshiners"... But my wife and 3 daughters wouldn't be too happy if I cancelled it. I just asked my 14yo what she thought, and she said "it sounds good, but the new My Little Pony season is about to start". Wife likes the satanic HBO. What can I do?

Posted by: Chris M at April 03, 2015 11:06 PM (6RZos)

Chris M, the My Little Pony episodes get posted online about a week after they are aired ... believe me, my Brony better-half is as jazzed as your 14yo.

Upthread, someone mentioned that HBO can be had streaming-only.

Posted by: Steck at April 04, 2015 01:33 AM (5i94q)

414 If the point of this is to "starve the beast" I think conservatives should push a piracy movement.

We'd also have the benefit of a public on our side with Hollywood looking like the villains.

If this is War, Piracy gets a green light as far as I'm concerned.

Posted by: Kal at April 04, 2015 01:35 AM (13G+x)

415 Canceled cable after the '08' election. Best thing I ever did!

Posted by: forrest at April 04, 2015 02:32 AM (Ifvyi)

416 Why does this need to be an effort? I assume there are books to read, blogs to read, news available on the web. There are things around the house to fix or clean or organize, spring cleaning and all that. Outside the house spring is approaching and it's above freezing, aren't there cars to wash and sticks in the yard to pick up and perhaps some bicycles and a roto-tiller to prep for the warm weather?

40 years ago we had three channels and a public TV station on the UHF band, there were perhaps two hours of TV worth watching per day. Today there's 200 channels on cable or satellite and there's still the same two hours worth of programming worth watching.

So tivo or dvr what you want, be productive instead of passive, and watch that show you like on your schedule, not theirs. Enjoy Prime Time when it's Your Time and the kids are in bed and the day's work is done. Watch that Nascar race with four baskets of clothes next to the couch -- don't tell me you're going to miss something exciting while you're sorting socks (spoiler alert -- they're going to make another left turn!), there is a rewind button for the pile-up or that impressive pit stop.

There is absolutely nothing on TV, including news, that will alter your life one whit if you see it at 10pm while folding clothes or balancing your checkbook instead of at 7pm eating popcorn on the sofa. And once you figure out that you can Netflix that movie or buy it used on Amazon for $3.50 and watch it any time you want with the family, why would you suffer through the commercials to watch it on broadcast?

Life is precious. And short. Why would I spend it at their whim, on their schedule, with their interruptions, listening to their spin and their lies and their agenda, when I could be doing something more productive?

- Max

Posted by: MaxDamage at April 04, 2015 02:34 AM (UgtuZ)

417 In 1991 - 2002, I was all about monthly bills, and maximizing my use of personal time. So I cancelled cable. The result was that I read a lot more, re-evaluated how I get my news and from whom, and probably gained back several YEARS of my precious life that would have otherwise been spent flipping channels like a monkey.

Posted by: Carl at April 04, 2015 02:51 AM (fpUVb)

418 True story: back in the summer of 2001 a roommate and I were watching ESPN for about three hours one summer day. We were shift workers. It was May or June. We were both off in the middle of the week.

We spent it watching SportsCenter. Five or six times in a row. You know that it's the same show over and over, right?

We unplugged the TV. Planned a road trip. Did 14 states in 14 days later that summer.

I haven't paid for cable since 2002. Did have free cable in an apartment for a few years.

Don't miss it.

Posted by: resurgemus at April 04, 2015 03:04 AM (MElqT)

419 25 years ago, noticing that kid-vid was 99.44% Gaianic proseletyzing, I pulled the plug. Both spawn thank me for it. They're voracious readers and much better informed than their contemporaries. They also seem to have a partial immunity to memetic disease.

There's a tv in the house now. My wife watches mostly real estate porn on HGTV. Even that drives me out of the room.

Posted by: phunctor at April 04, 2015 03:14 AM (alVBS)

420 I dropped TV watching long ago even before I dropped my satellite coverage. As I explained to the satellite people I had no problem with their service, it was just that there was nothing on TV worth watching.

I watched college football in the Fall and occasionally I would watch the news while eating. The only thing wifey watched was Wheel of Fortune on a local station. We tried it and she can watch it on the TV upstairs with an indoor antenna. Other than that the only thing the TV was used for was Blueray and DVD watching.

And I was paying over $110/month for TV and Internet coverage. I completely dropped the TV and have not missed it at all.

Posted by: Vic We Have No Party at April 04, 2015 04:02 AM (wlDny)

421 Very clever!

Come in as an industry intent on suicide for forty years is in the final stages of bleeding out, call a boycott, followed by glory when it dies!

There were plenty adults worried about the toxic effects of the movies before they even had talkies. Art, entertainment, and recreation don't destroy the culture. They reflect it. Yes, some is avante garde, but some is also retro.

The networks are losing power, influence, audience, and revenue every year, and have been for decades. Whatever effect they have on news is dying. The Daily Show has more influence with the key demo 18-49 than network news.

As with any entertainment product, you pick the good and discard the mundane. And never forget the classics - https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ

Posted by: Adjoran at April 04, 2015 04:42 AM (QIQ6j)

422 Killing your TV habit?

Hard to do but necessary. The key thing is that imagination isn't limited to the idiot box. Through the wonder of the internet free reign is given to the expression of this. Take advantage of this, the arts, theater and drama, the expression of the human condition is available to anyone who has that calling. It's a battleground but a battle worth engaging in simply for the fact that when you employ Truth in the mix, it resonates..

Posted by: Batznratz at April 04, 2015 05:02 AM (emCRo)

423 You only have a 47" TV? Sad.

Posted by: petunia at April 04, 2015 05:38 AM (VoCyE)

424 My family totally cancelled the cable at our US vacation home two weeks ago. I wanted to do it last August. When I am in England 50% of the time there won't be one hour of tv worth watching so we leave it off. We work our way through box sets (Wolf Hall is bloody brilliant!) or walk to the local cinema. When I am in the States I'd rather have silence than the wittering bimbos and cranky dudes. Gavin de Becker says NEWS stands for "Nothing Educational Worth Seeing". Since Sept 11 I have NEVER watched BBC news, the vile shite they poured out that day has traumatised me forever. I miss Andrew B every day.

Posted by: Kitty CK at April 04, 2015 05:44 AM (BqMWt)

425 Walk in any Costco, and this post sounds ridiculous.

It isn't people like us who are the problem and our stopping anything won't fix anything.

We need to buy out the major networks and fixing the propaganda problem from the inside.

The country is not going to be giving up the 3-D big screens... over 70" TVs anytime soon.

Besides almost everyone can choose their own programing now anyway with Netflix, Hulu, OnDemand, DVRs and so forth. And the ones that you buy to avoid commercials are even better.

Besides I saw this really cool giant curved screen the other day. I bet the 3-D just comes alive with that thing!

Posted by: petunia at April 04, 2015 05:44 AM (VoCyE)

426 The only thing we watch on (actual) television is college basketball, and we had to get a cable package to do so since we moved out of state. My son has aspergers, and it's one of the things he obsesses/we bond over.

My kids don't watch a bit of tv otherwise (never have, and I've never been the mom with the tv on all day for background noise), and the little programs they do watch are on Netflix (monitored by me). I, however, have a bad habit of binge watching shows online for free. Definitely in agreement about the atrophy.

Posted by: Bee at April 04, 2015 06:09 AM (w2wkZ)

427 I watch animal shows. I like predation as a spectator sport. (I don't always root against the predator, except leftist Democrats and their winged monkey media)

I also watch the Aliens Are Real shows, because that Greek guy's hair is a sign...and, one day I am going to confess having the "kidnap experience" as a child...so, I like the bonding with others from the safety of my anonymity.

Both of the above explain why I lurk here, but post elsewhere more frequently.

(The cursing here is a better release)

Speaking of cursing, I had to have my car serviced in Santa Monica yesterday and the waiting area had the TV on CNN. I think I found Dante's missing ring. I napped briefly, avoiding Kubrick's Clockwork punishment, but CNN in Santa Monica in a car dealer service lounge can do permanent damage.)

I'm with Ace on most things.

Predation and aliens are my exceptions.

Posted by: Cfbleachers at April 04, 2015 06:10 AM (jH1jX)

428 Yes, cut the cable. When you're connected to the 'retention specialist' please mention MSNBC as one of the reasons. Mention no 'a la carte' pricing as another. They've given the consumer and conservatives the finger for too long. Keep your internet and wi-fi though.

You're now saving around $800 bucks a year. Some of that money went to MSNBC. Feel better already?

Now in my opinion an Amazon Prime account at $99 a year and a $39 Amazon Fire Stick is the best combo for watching online content. Amazon is the best of capitalism right now. They are constantly improving the product while keeping the price constant. They probably have thousands of LIFETIMES of content available. Want to watch history? A LIFETIME of content available. Science? A LIFETIME of content available. Movies? Many LIFETIMES of content available. First run movies? They are there for a reasonable fee. Remember you're still saving $600 plus dollars per year. Splurge a little.

Everything works. It's truly amazing technology. Commercial free. Pause if you want. Rewind. Fast forward. Exit and come back and it returns to where you left off.

Start with this setup. More online content is on the way. Add a subscription to Netfix for another $100 a year. It works with the Fire Stick. Same with HuluPlus. Some satellite providers are preparing to enter the game. There are probably hundreds of Apps for the Fire Stick now, with more on the way. Stream free music. It will 'learn' what you like and create playlists for you to choose from.

Sure, reducing the amount of time in front of the television is good. I also believe in optimizing the quality of ones television experience. Learn something in the process; learn the history of Hawaii while taking a HD helicopter tour of the islands as I did recently. Breathtaking experiences are there at your fingertips.

But for the love of G-d, cut the cable and stop feeding the MSM and MSNBC.

Posted by: SE Pa Moron at April 04, 2015 06:16 AM (xQX/f)

429 Cfbleachers (#427) -

My car place waiting room once played CSI:Miami. Horrible show. When that was over, Criminal Minds came on. Totally depraved and absolutely unentertaining.

I, too, enjoy Ancient Aliens, by the way.

Posted by: FireHorse at April 04, 2015 06:37 AM (wdXFj)

430 Drop cable. You'll save tons of money every month. Put that saved money to good use.

If you need a little TV, get an antenna. They sell them on Amazon.
you will still receive a few basic channels with an antenna.

I've gotten to the point where I hate the sound of TV. Teh sound of Matt Lauers voice or any other AM "news" show makes me vomit. I don't turn TV on until just before bed and I use it as a sleep aid.

TV is the democrat party's death pill.

Don't take it.

Posted by: ethos at April 04, 2015 08:17 AM (t9c06)

431 One suggestion: Take advantage of a move to break the addiction.
I'd already grown disgusted with network TV when I was living in Seattle. When I moved cross-country to a little college town, I was delighted to discover that I was just far enough away from the nearest TV stations that an indoor antenna wouldn't work. It was easy to not buy an external antenna or pay for cable TV.
This August it'll be two years since I had access to television and I couldn't be happier.

Posted by: Michael W. Perry at April 04, 2015 08:17 AM (/WUUp)

432 It's time to shame hollywood for supporting fascist hillery.

Posted by: ethos at April 04, 2015 08:18 AM (t9c06)

433 re: 155 "So that we actually interact and have something in common across the family, I would love to find good TV shows to watch together."

Board games, physical games like washers or HORSE, or group reading of books where each night someone else reads a chapter to the group out loud.... maybe even progress into doing theatrical readings as in imitating voices like a book on tape actor would...would all be social interactive and better imho than group watching tv. but if you persists, i would rent some nature show dvds or science documentaries. "Thru the wormhole" with morgan freeman has some good shows.

Posted by: jkmack at April 04, 2015 08:30 AM (O1jlF)

434 Told dish to pack sand over the Christmas break. It was a Great decision- family is better for it. Only thing we miss are the Alaska bush family shows. From here in Indiana, that kind of life looks better every day. Told dish their lack of choice was primary reason, and that I would pay more for smaller packages because I didn't want to sponsor our cultural decline.

Posted by: Cooldawg at April 04, 2015 08:33 AM (30c7W)

435 Thanks, BTH, for the Weird Al "I Can't Watch That" link.

I find the Redbox vending machines to suit me pretty well. I'm going to pick up "The Imitation Game" today. Only $1.58. Yeah, the history is not quite accurate, but Turing was a hero, Bletchley did amazing things and Cumberbatch is a very competent actor.

My library has also started to stock movie DVDs a few months after their prime rental period.

I enjoy minimizing how much I feed the beast.

Posted by: yetanotherformerrepublican at April 04, 2015 08:38 AM (9teY/)

436 7 years without network or cable Teevee...I just use it to watch DVD's I collect & sometimes I use Redbox if there is an interesting movie.

Get my news on the net...and C-Span is on the net.

More time for reading and much of that old school with actual books.

It's worth the peace of mind from the clamoring mob.

Posted by: workingclass artist at April 04, 2015 09:05 AM (weXha)

437 @265 "Get a serious hobby and eliminating tv could be easy."

Yeah, I took up amateur radio recently. Soooo much to learn. Lots of fun, plus I'm meeting (on radio and in person) a nice bunch of people.

Posted by: yetanotherformerrepublican at April 04, 2015 09:07 AM (9teY/)

438 After my first deployment, I came home to find my young children sitting in front of the TV for hours on end, even during a beautiful spring day. So I took the TV out to the garage and made em go outside and play in the dirt, etc. Six months before I brought the stupid thing back in the house.

Other than Chicago Blackhawks games, and the occasional Netflix streaming, we just don't watch TV anymore. Although I can't say what happened during my other deployments. Got all three of my kids interested in making things out in my woodshop.

My 13 yr old daughter made her first hand cut dovetailed drawer the other day. My boys are trying to think of ways they can start a little business to put some money away for college. we don't miss TV that much, except for the Blackhawks games that are broadcast on cable, something else we don't have. but on a clear night, we get WGN on AM radio, so it's all good.

Another thing, one of our kids' friends spends all his time staring at his phone screen. My kids have flip phones. They hate it, but I don't want them to turn out like their friend.

Posted by: john Locke at April 04, 2015 09:53 AM (AeqWm)

439
Very provocative post and a great idea.

Before I got remarried I lived without television for about seven years, and I never missed it. It allows you to discover how interesting the world can be when you interact with it. Doing gardening, fixing cars and the house, making and restoring furniture, going to the library. It's bliss.

Posted by: Levin at April 04, 2015 10:04 AM (6pgRO)

440 I gave up TV 2 years ago.

While I recently bought a multi-streaming box for Blue Ray DVD and Hulu, I don't even watch Hulu much at all.

I have better things to do with my life.

Posted by: SGT Ted at April 04, 2015 10:09 AM (pf98a)

441 410 Tom Servo said:

"And I think we all know that, deep in our hearts. America is dead."

Well, I think America is not a place, it's an idea, and you can't ever really kill ideas. But yeah, I agree with you, the America we knew is gone, and it isn't coming back in our lifetimes. That's sad to me, because the America I was born in had a lot more potential for getting things right than the one I'm in now.

The one I'm in now has a lot of potential alright... but it's potential for getting a bunch of stuff really wrong. And there's no reason for it! The greatest industrial engine in history was subordinated to serve as a crib distraction toy for infantile pathological liars with crippled self esteem. I mean you can't make this stuff up, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't watched it happen with my own eyes for the past fifty years.

One of the things I hang a lot of hope on though, is that after all the talk, after all the Big Plans from the people who think they are God's Gift to us great unwashed, about how to fundamentally transform a country that was already efficient and effective and was running the table, after all the verbal fondling of themselves while they gaze in the mirror, *somebody* has to keep the lights on and the toilets flushing, so they can make their speeches, and tell us all how much we suck and how stupid we are. It's crazy, but the make believe is *that* important to them, they'll let the system crash before they'll question their fantasies.

That's a missing scale in the dragon's belly, baby.

This infrastructure that everybody takes for granted ain't always so easy to deliver. And when the make believe in the teacher's lounge and the daily editor's afternoon standup ends, many of these people don't know how to change a flat tire. Not all of them, but many of them. At that time, a lot of the make believe "authority" that is currently operative will just fall away.

Of course, that's the time that predators like Stalin clean house and stack the deck in his favor, so there are no guarantees things will work out. I have no idea what is going to happen... I wish I did. But:

"Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt." -- Tolkien

God chuckles at our plans, especially the really big plans.

Oh yeah one more thing. These people on the left who think they know everything, the Academedia Tech Aristocracy, everything they rely on is very very brittle. Their technology, their economics, their systems of social coercion... these jokers do *not* engineer for durability.

Disposable culture is a religion to them, despite the big show they make about recycling and all that. Throwing things away for reasons of convenience, this isn't a casual thing, it is a very deep foundational part of what they are. They are corrosive in their souls, so they have to plan to throw everything away, all the time. It reminds me of like, some forms of biological specialization.

They are cheap, lazy, impatient, dishonest, pompous designers, and they cut corners and bank on getting 110% out of everything, all the time. They don't put any away for a rainy day. They don't clean their tools. They don't plan for disaster recovery (in many important ways) because to do so would be to admit they might not be omniscient and perfect. (Obviously, there are exceptions, not all of them are like this, but many are.)

And they always always expect *somebody else* to pick up the check, clean the toilets, wash the dishes, and do their sweating, bleeding, fighting and dying for them. That part actually is universally true of them, to one degree or another. They truly are aristocrats, not just in social position, but in how they look at the world.

This is an incredible, indescribable weakness and vulnerability on their part, and most of them do not understand that. They think that smashing the window and getting behind the steering wheel is the same thing as knowing how to drive. *This truth has real practical use.* Just like baiting a hook has practical use. They can be manipulated with flattery and many other things, because of this weakness.

So their rats nest contraption with the "Utopia Is Just A Few Five Year Plans Away!" sticker on the side, that thing is fragile man. And I think a lot more of them will be willing to open their ears soon, more than it looks like now. People are critters and critters are essentially pragmatists. So I think a time may come where big parts of the house of cards fall down, but *before* the "irredeemable catastrophe" actually fully arrives. That could be an important time to do a lot of good, and protect a lot of value, and a lot of people.

And for the catastrophe part... the thing is, the "you'll work harder with a gun in your back for a bowl of rice a day" part, it usually doesn't last very long I think. Usually just a few years. How the game board looks just *after* that time, that's the part that I wish I could understand better. That's funny, I'm just realizing all the WWII documentaries, they all stop at '45, they don't cover the postwar reconstruction stuff, same with the Civil War. Huh.

I've never really tried to learn much about that post war reconstruction part, I should do that.

Posted by: Deputy Director Higgins at April 04, 2015 11:29 AM (IxEWc)

442 "I say "almost entirely" because people are so addicted to TV at this point that I think it seems as hard to quit TV as it is to quit smoking. (By the way: It's easy to quit smoking.)"

No, that's wrong.

If you look the number of houses without TV sets or only using a TV for games is growing. particularly among millennials.

Give it a few years until the Baby Boomers start dying off and it will really start to fall.

Posted by: formwiz at April 04, 2015 11:42 AM (3rwvI)

443 About 3 years ago my wife and I looked at the "cable" (scare quotes because it's satellite) bill and said the heck with that, we'll go to the basic (local channels, lots of really worthless channels and a very few worthwhile ones) and basically the idea was to save money. Well, we did that but we also started watching much less. Sure I miss some of the shows; for a while, but now? Don't miss 'em a bit.
I do miss FOX but I can access that through the internet so...
More time with wife, more time for whatever else including, as Ace said, time outdoors, hiking etc.
Cable - time to cut the cord.

Posted by: Arizona Mike at April 04, 2015 11:56 AM (9uqzR)

444 Oh and I forgot one other thing which is I think just as important.
We watch maybe 6 movies a year. I would say most we really enjoy with one or two maybe being what we would call flops. But Big Media isn't getting much of our money there either.

Posted by: Arizona Mike at April 04, 2015 11:58 AM (9uqzR)

445 It is propaganda. I used to work in entertainment, and the idea is that you make money from the cable deal, not the advertising. So they churn out the familiar, PC, crap. The perp is always White Christian Male or White Rich Male. It's no more advanced than Snidely Whiplash.

And the depraved stuff, like Criminal Minds, is supposedly depraved because shock makes you more receptive to the ad message. Meh. Sounds like BS to me. They just are going after the depraved demo.

So cutting the cord is the most effective way to stop it.

Also no one in entertainment watches TV or cares about it. I used to laugh at one crew guy who always wore a "Fuck Glee" t-shirt.

Posted by: PJ at April 04, 2015 11:59 AM (cHuNI)

446 16 years TV-free for me.

Most exposure I get is waiting rooms or sometimes at a relative's place. I experience it, quite literally, as pollution. I am most irritated by all the commercials. I have been radio-free for several years for the same reason.

Now I am addicted to podcasts and audiobooks.

Posted by: Mongerel at April 04, 2015 12:06 PM (YqWfw)

447 TV is bubble gum for the brain. I am 65 and have NEVER owned a TV

Posted by: bgarrett at April 04, 2015 12:20 PM (cZyvf)

448 Gave up owning a TV 4 years ago. Cannot say I am missing a thing - except for the flow of effluent into my home via the cable - and I don;t miss it much.

Posted by: Sawbuck at April 04, 2015 01:14 PM (Rh/GL)

449 Well I'm pretty much already doing this. I've never paid for cable once in my life. This is a good idea. I prefer the internet for my media.

Posted by: Draki at April 04, 2015 01:55 PM (pmv/9)

450 Ace, you're a good dude, but I think it's really sad you just came to this conclusion.

People who work in the industry do not consume anywhere near as much as the audience does. There's a reason for that and it's not simple burnout.

Posted by: budfoc at April 04, 2015 01:58 PM (heQHi)

451 I think this song belongs here...
http://youtu.be/ZZrIdbumFiI
The nets really have gone downhill, NBC especially. If not for sports, I'd cancel. Keep up the great work Ace!

Posted by: Drip drip drip... at April 04, 2015 03:03 PM (kgdSh)

452 As a former smoker, I cannot stand the smell of tobacco on clothes or in cars, yet it used to permeate my life.

I haven't watched T.V. in decades and my aversion to it is just as great.

Posted by: gettimothy at April 04, 2015 03:03 PM (V+TEE)

453 All RWNJ's eventually come to understand they're a tiny minority with no real power or influence.

Looks like for Ace the lightbulb has finally come on.

Yes Ace you're a loser. It's our country so get used to it.

Posted by: Bob at April 04, 2015 04:50 PM (CY5sD)

454 I started noticing in recent years that television was becoming propaganda and agenda driven. So I started watching less and less television until I finally got rid of cable in Dec.I simply don't want to pay to have propaganda pumped into my home.Strange how I don't miss television at all and I'm someone who grew up loving television. Television is the way the left forces their propaganda and agenda into American homes. But there are fewer viewers of their filth then just 10 years ago.A top rated weekly show use to have over 20 mil viewers 10 years ago. Now a top rated show has about 15 mil. I remember season six of 24 having about 13 mil viewers which was considered a disappointment. Now that's good enough to make it into the top 5.

Posted by: Hera at April 04, 2015 05:13 PM (uXsyC)

455 9 I haven't had cable since 1994. Anything you might want to watch is on Netflix, Hulu, or iTunes.
Posted by: Ponydaemmerung

There is nothing on Netflix, Hulu or iTunes that I have an interest in. I'd rather go out in the garage and sharpen hand saws than watch that carp.

Posted by: Alix Bryans Fallopian Tubes at April 04, 2015 06:17 PM (bngVi)

456 1 Jan 2013 cut the cable.

All I was watching was shooting/hunting/game cooking/grilling shows. Got my news from Brietbart.

The wife watched cooking/home & garden shows & Fox News, I don't but will concede that Greta & Megan's shows are entertaining.

Roku3 boxes for my non-Internet ready TVs, Netflix, Hulu+, & Vudu access so my wife is able to watch "Project Runway" (help me Lord).

Not certain it has allowed me to reduce costs a hell of a lot but I have been able to purchase greater amounts of reloading supplies...which is a good thing

Posted by: Jack at April 04, 2015 06:52 PM (AJmkO)

457 Haven't watched TV since the 1990s and Deep Space 9. They killed that one, I left.

Posted by: Gunnar at April 04, 2015 11:01 PM (ETOnR)

458 I do an alternation deal w/ books TV, where I read 2 paragraphs then watch 12 lines of dialogue. It seems likea compromise, but at least I get a lot of reading done.

Posted by: norrin radd at April 04, 2015 11:52 PM (MXoex)

459 TAKE OVER, DON'T GIVE UP. "ACE YOUTUBE CHANNEL" OR "BREITBART T.V." SHOULD BE YOUR AIM
-- As a former Dem, now complete Conservative and sometime lurker I don't get you guys at all. There was a study that showed all you have to do to win any argument is get more emotional and shout louder. That's why today's toddlers -- Leftists-- are on a roll. But fierce determination and resolve does stop the toddler. You have to get back in the game and the bonus is that fighting lifts most depression (which you're clearly in need of). The unwashed masses are NOT happy about gays taking over the Boy Scouts, forcing Christian bakers into oblivion and ESPECIALLY the cheap amnesty slaves but nobody loudly pronounces an alternative option where we can SEE it. I barely watch t.v. anymore. All I watch is Fox and it's half re-runs. Create Youtube content, or work with Breitbart to create a t.v. channel. Get in the game. Everybody is quitting t.v. in droves and you guys bringing your special brand of fierce, funny, wildly radical Rightwing ways to a visual setting is just what we need. If you're not in charge rebel until you are. Don't get apathetic, begin getting into the business. Conservatives need more than ONE t.v. station that's pro-amnesty. Get to making content somewhere yourself and join the brainwashing game. It works and it's time you showed your vigor, fight and spirit and got to work. Conservatives never give up, that's what brought me to the movement. Liberalism is a disease that needs a widely available cure. In the end if your brain works liberalism's childishness and lack of reality begs an alternative. Provide one.

Posted by: Mia C at April 05, 2015 03:47 AM (rCpnE)

460 Back in the 70s I took a college course on philosophy. The one book that stuck with me to this day was a book about TVs ability to hypnotize, brain wash or otherwise use mind control. Not paranoia, just hard science. Most people look at TV as pictures that move. It is not. It is a amalgam of little tiny lights that continue to go on and off and on and off. Like a strobe. That is the devilish part. Subliminal pictures, like on every hundred frames or so is amateur hour compared to controlling the light to induce a catatonic or suggestive state.

Viola! You are a zombie. Keep buying, keep spending on the Vikings or jets paraphernalia, NASCAR etc. Become satisfied with the status quo.

Do not resist.

Posted by: David Landro at April 07, 2015 01:37 PM (YvRAm)

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