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Old November 18, 2011, 05:23 PM   #20
BillCA
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 28, 2004
Location: Silicon Valley, Ca
Posts: 7,117
<Rant>
Re: The Nightly News

Try this sometime if you have multiple TVs or Picture-in-Picture TV.
Wait for the evening news shows to come on. Select one of your local channels to view. Now, on another set (or P-in-P) select a competitive local channel and view it along with the first one.

You'll notice that the majority of the time, which stories lead, which stories follow and which get the most air time are almost in sync. That is, if the lead story on Channel 5 is the "Occupy Wall Street" then it will also be the lead on Channel 3. It is likely they will follow that lead with the same story in the #2 slot. There will be differences, such as if one channel is in the metro area (e.g. Dallas) and the other channel covers a suburb or nearby city (e.g. Ft. Worth). Air time differences on secondary stories depend on whether the local station covered it directly or relied on an affiliate or couldn't send their own reporter.

There's very little difference in what gets covered and what gets thrown in the garbage. Editors have been taught the phrase if it bleeds, it leads for decades. Likewise, less known is The world in the sewers brings in viewers, alluding to showing riots, insurrections and violence.

"Occupy" Movement
The nightly news is unlikely to tell you how much some the occupy-movement has, and is being, staged by the far-left. With rare exception, they won't tell you that some activist organizations have paid people (jobless, homeless) to carry signs at these protests. They won't tell you that some folks were given public transit tickets or transfers and paid to get to protests on the west coast.

One local radio station here had a reporter ask members of the occupy movement what changes they wanted. Besides generalized claims, almost no one could name a law or solution to be implemented. An "organizer" claimed we should limit CEO compensations, cap interest rates banks can charge, force banks to pay higher interest on deposits, raise the minimum wage and lower university tuition. Yeah, like that works in a free market society.

Here in California, protesters at the State University system are voicing their displeasure with the cost of tuition. We can all understand that. However, the [broke] State of California wants to limit pay increases of university professors and chancellors (some of whom earn more than the Governor and President combined). Now they are joining forces to protest together, demanding higher wages for professors while simultaneously demanding lower tuition. *sigh* Obviously we're not teaching economics 101 in high schools.

The Future
Gone are the days of the U.S. living on the gravy train that resulted from using our industrial might to win WW-II and not having to spend billions to repair war damage. Congress, for at least the last 50 years had gone on a spending spree that makes a drunken sailor look like a tightwad. It's going to be painful to force them to stop.

Other countries are already feeling the bite of overspending. Greece, Spain, Italy, etc. France is certainly going to get "snake bit" too, I believe. All of these countries have had socialist governments with large spending on social programs, worker pensions, shorter work weeks, generous vacation and/or medical coverage. On top of that, their legislators add in massive works projects for transit (rail), new government backed buildings (museums, theaters, offices, etc) and vote themselves raises. Then wonder where the money went.

In the US, we need to seriously curb Congressional spending at all levels. Chopping off $3 billion here and $5 billion there isn't enough. Focus needs to be given to reducing the government payroll. That means pay cuts, eliminating duplicated efforts and repealing many laws that mandate the existence of unnecessary agencies, boards, commissions and their subordinates. To do it, some big corporations will get hurt which will mean layoffs. IBM, GE, Lockheed, Boeing, Bell, etc. Forward thinking suggest creating incentives for these companies to turn their knowledge and skill sets into new civilian use products where possible. Closing many foreign bases and cutting foreign aid to countries that can support their own defense (Korea, Japan, Germany, etc) will gain us a little time.

Congress should focus on legislation that directly creates jobs -- repairing or upgrading the infrastructure we have (highways, bridges, power grids), tapping our own oil reserves, redeploying military units to secure the borders and perform port inspections with CBP. It should repeal the health-care act to allow businesses to start, grow and become sustainable without the burden it imposes. Use misdemeanor convicts to clear brush and weeds in fire zones or build drainage for flood plains. Use low-risk felons to build pre-fabricated building components that can be used for lower-cost housing or similar projects.

I've long thought that the main business of the federal gov't should be limited to providing national defense, defining national standards -- weights & measures, safety (food, medical, consumer products, etc), transportation (highways, rails, air), education standards, securing the borders and dealing with foreign affairs. Programs for the arts, education, shelters for homeless, women and similar programs should be funded by the states and communities. Donations to charities for public benefit should be fully deductible to encourage giving.

I'm stopping before my blood pressure gets too high. Every congress-critter should be forced to publish how much money they authorized for what programs every time they return to their district. This includes those cute little "earmarks" inside huge omnibus bills ... like $430,000 to study whether hummingbirds fart or how a Frisbee flies.

</Rant>
Thank you for tolerating...
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BillCA in CA (Unfortunately)

Last edited by BillCA; November 18, 2011 at 05:31 PM.
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