"Wes" wrote in message
...
"Ed Huntress" wrote:
I live a sheltered life. FNNWS, C-Span1, C-span2, Comedy Central. I
get
the right,
neutral and left view of our world from that tiny selection.
Damn, I guess I get Jersey Shore Channel 160 on Dish. Damn, I'm paying
for that chit? I
want ala carte programming, I shouldn't have to pay for programing for
well, I was going
to say something, but since you and John seem to be watching it, I won't
insult you.
I have watched a total of one minute of Jersey Shore. John and I are just
funnin'. My son says it's so bad that college kids watch it for laughs.
I hope you guys were not watching it. I was shocked when John said he was
watching Glenn
Beck with his mom. I like Beck, I like Rush, I don't buy into everything
they say.
I can't understand how anyone can listen to Beck without looking to see
where the men in white coats are hiding. That man is one weird mental case.
As for you paying for multi-channel packages, what's your problem, don't
you
believe in free enterprise? g If you don't like it, switch providers.
Everyone is forced to bundle. The content providers force the carriers to
take more than
they want and everyone has to pay for it. I haven't watched ESPN since
they carried the
Tour de France but I'm paying for it, or shall we say I'm subsidizing it.
Oh, they're all doing the same thing, you say? Well, that's competition.
Not.
No, it is a monopoly.
More of an oligopoly. They all have the same interest -- fleecing the
customers for all they're worth -- and, thus, they all behave similarly.
It's been described as a cartel without overt collusion. They don't need
collusion. They just need for the "competitors" to continue to have the same
interest, and to do predictable things.
Something I am against. How many major cell phone providers exist
today? ATT seems to own what Verison doesn't. The baby bells have
regrouped.
Again, that's free enterprise. Or, more accurately, it's the
Reagan/Bush/Clinton version, which is to say, anything goes. Getting rid of
anti-trust laws, or just looking the other way, is part of the neo-liberal
(read, "conservative") economic revolution. The other term for it, in
international contexts, is "The Washington Consensus."
Big business enjoys economies of scale, and sometimes things wind up cheaper
for the consumer when big fish swallow small ones. But often they don't --
cable channels and the oligopolistic mix of cable and satellite providers is
a perfect example. If you don't set some rules, they run wild, and it often
happens that they all have the same interest -- and competition is not in
their interest. If they have a compelling technology, like cell phones or
multiple TV channels, and if they can limit competition (through high costs
of entry, or municipal limitations on cell phone towers) they can squeeze
really hard. Medical insurance is the same deal. They have us over a barrel.
But
damn, you guys run down fox news and watch this crud. I'm going to have
to change the
channel soon, I'm losing brain cells just watching a few minutes of it.
YUCK!
I really doubt if John watches Jersey Shore. Personally, I've watched less
then three minutes of reality shows, in total, since the first one came on
the air.
Oh about 10 years ago I watched some of the original survivor shows but I
was married and
she had it on. Back then it was a bit unique.
It just never appealed to me.
I can't take it anymore. I'm heading over to real reality tv, CSPAN,
maybe I can catch a
repeat of Rangel trying to talk his way out of his legal jamm, that
should
be a hoot. 
Make sure you have a fresh pot of coffee going. It's not easy to stay
awake
with C-Span.
Normally I watch it on saturday and sunday drinking coffee, the rest of
the week, I replay
it at night in bed. The joy of a PVR. Some nights I sleep though parts
of it 3 times but
on other nights they have someone on that really is interesting that cuts
into my sleep
time. With no commercials and my tinnitus, it works for me. 
When I want to watch the Jersey Shore, I drive over there -- with a
fishing
rod or some crab lines. I'm not interested in the Guidettes. I had enough
of
them by the time I was 22. d8-)
I need to get out and fish again. I like wading down a nice trout stream
on a weekend
morning. I got a bit too heavy for my old waders, realized that I
problably will never
fit them again no mater how hard I try since they were tight to start out
with and gave it
to my coworker who had two sets of waders and 2 kids. With dad that
didn't work out so
well. I should have just bought bigger waders but I kept telling myself,
you can do it.
Well, I didn't.
Hell, I have a 4 piece Orvis graphite fly rod in 7 weight on a shelf in
the gunsafe. Won
that over a decade ago and haven't taken it out yet. Time is flying by on
me. I'll do
that next weekend, I have to work this one, is turning into years. I'll
try to make
opening day for next years trout season. New set of waders included
Before you get your waders, get the rod out and make sure you have things
all together. Early morning bass fishing, with deer-hair bugs, and fishing
for sunnies with spiders or floating terrestrials (or cheap Asian dry flies)
is fun and doesn't require wading. This time of year, my favorite is fishing
for pickerel with streamers. But you need a canoe or boat. I still have to
finish building my Bolger canoe.
A 7-weight rod will handle all of those things. I hope the 4-piece
construction doesn't deaden it too much. Orvis rods tend to be soft-action,
anyway, so it may not matter.
--
Ed Huntress