TV is unwatchable now since both conventions

[Populist_Prole]

Granted I very rarely watch at home but the TV in the break room at work is always blaring and unavoidable. Just in the cumulative hour or so I was exposed to it yesterday I just couldn't believe the barrage of Romney anti-Obama ads. I can now see how he is spending his campaign war chest. As this is the southeast, the airwaves were rife with ads for local conservative pols as well, all tailored to resonate with the union hating and fundies. The news, local and national slanted/spun the DNC activities as a feckless dog and pony show in the face of a "bad jobs report" and other RW spin.

I was so angered I opined aloud about my politics, which I never do except to a few good coworker friends. I was blurted out loud "Bullshit!" disguised as a loud sneeze several times, causing all the heads at the tables eating lunch to look at me.

Of course this isn't really news to us like minded astute people on DU, but I can see where the steady domination of right wing spin can and would resonate with most low information types.

Any, I just had to get this off my chest. Thanks for listening.

[2on2u]

1. Sort of like chewing unflavored cardboard. n/t

[a geek named Bob]

5. It's THAT tasty?

TV has gotten better, in the 10 years since I used to watch it...

[2on2u]

6. With proper seasoning it can be mediocre. n/t

[a geek named Bob]

7. In a perverse way

I'm starting to look forward to putting the TV back together...

[2on2u]

8. You found the problem? n/t

[a geek named Bob]

9. well...

I took apart the TV, for the power supply.

I needed a 30KV power supply, and my TV had that.

By some standards, in taking apart the TV, I committed rank heresy.

[2on2u]

15. That's a lot of volts, be careful, a jacobs ladder comes to mind for uses but not much else.

[a geek named Bob]

16. 2on2u

the 30KV was for one set of experiments... (Those worked. I just need to figure out a better power conditioning system)

The other set of experiments needed Marx-stack voltage multipliers.

My wife said I had to stop, as one stray arc made the leap past my safety barrier. I'm not allowed to work on the toys, until I complete a Faraday suit (sort of what the band ArcAttack uses.)

I never got around to putting the TV back together.

[2on2u]

17. No loss there.... a rail gun also comes to mind or perhaps a fairly large Tesla coil. n/t

[a geek named Bob]

18. Both, actually..

that, and a small ion engine...

I needed a hobby.

[2on2u]

19. You are a geek Bob. Carry on, wish I was there tinkering with you!!!

On edit to add:

[a geek named Bob]

21. Thank you for the kind words...

many of the folks in my family (core, extended, and family of choice) are all geeks.

If you want to share a geek moment, get thee to Maker Faire NYC

http://makerfaire.com/newyork/2012/index.html

It's like Woodstock, but for Geeks!

When this %^*! thesis process is over, I'll be setting up my lab space again. THEN I'll have people over. Sort of a Geek's salon.

[still_one]

2. most important election in.my lifetime

[RKP5637]

3. I don't blame you one bit, I am so totally fed up with the

republican bullshit. I'm in the process now of trying to leave an ultra-conservative state. I just can't stand F'en moronic republicans anymore. This state is forecast to vote 99.7% for Romney/Ryan and in the primary they wanted Santorum. I just can not live my remaining years around people like this. Life is just too short.

[savalez]

12. California awaits your arrival!

[RKP5637]

20. I used to live in CA and then got transferred to KS. Often I look back and

wonder how the F did this happen. Now, I'm looking at getting back to CA or someplace else. It's gotten so teabaggery here the democrats for the most part have actually given up, many positions don't even have anything but RW republicans running.The moderate republicans have been exiled and we have an ultra RW conservative governor here. In Nov., the entire state government, for the most part, will become far RW, because in the primary the moderate republicans were evicted by the voters.

Yep, CA looks really really good!

[savalez]

24. Wow, sounds like you gotta get out before it implodes!

Some will say stick it out and fight, but hey, you've got one life to live and if KS is that far gone, go for it.

[RKP5637]

25. It's bad. Also, under the new government, they have passed a bill to

eliminate all income tax and just about all corporate taxes. It is said the state will go into debt by billions and the educational system will suffer drastically. The state will become the most conservative state in the US and is a testing ground for a teabagger run USA. The Koch Brothers own the state government. Over the past decade it's become a far cry from what it used to be. And the people here are absolutely moronic when they vote.

Yep, it's time to get out even though it means quite a personal sacrifice. Sometimes when a ship's sinking it's best to jump in a liferaft and be gone!

[savalez]

33. Yikes.

I just read all about your situation here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304791704577418641784902500.html

I found this interesting too:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/us/as-state-revenues-begin-to-comeback-maryland-and-kansas-choose-different-paths.html

Sounds like KS in in for a rough ride.

[RKP5637]

34. I always get a kick out of statements like this from the governor.

What Brownback doesn't get is that some people also leave Kansas because they don't like the authoritarian theocracy that is taking a stranglehold on Kansas. In Kansas, for example, it is a criminal offense to be gay, and they just voted to keep that law on the books, if one can believe that ... and that's just a minor example of the authoritarian theocracy enveloping Kansas with the new teabagger regime. Also, the Koch Brothers have been funding him for something like 10 years. Kansas has become infested, like the tentacles of an octopus throughout the state. People move to Kansas? I bet they see even more of a mass exodus.

Gov. Sam Brownback of Kansas, who sought the Republican nomination for president four years ago, said he was persuaded that his state needed to cut its income taxes and taxes on small businesses significantly when he studied data from the Internal Revenue Service that showed that Kansas was losing residents to states with lower taxes.

[Blanks]

31. I lived in Kansas for 16 years.

I absolutely despised Sam Brownback. He seems to have done well for himself politically.

I can't stand to see him talk.

[RKP5637]

32. Neither can I. I find him revolting. Brownback and the Koch Brothers have done well

while so many Kansans are asleep. It wasn't bad when Governor Sebelius was here, but now any hint of a democratic presence has fallen apart for the most part. In November when the Brownback regime takes the state senate too I think it's going to really be bad, and most experts that are bipartisan say the same, and that includes the moderate republicans that have been ousted.

It's really quite sad to see what is happening in KS. It's in your face teabaggerism and paybacks to the wealthy backers, and F most Kansans. When the state goes into underfunding by billions with his tax initiative, I think many will be fleeing KS, rather than his great thought that people and companies are going to flock to KS.

All told, tax revenue is projected to decline $4.5 billion over the next six years, raising concerns from many about the impact such a reduction will have on the state budget, which totals about $6.2 billion in state revenue annually and sustained significant cuts during the recession.

The Legislature’s research staff forecast that the tax cuts would lead to a budget shortfall by July 2014 that could grow to a range of $2.5 billion to $3 billion by July 2018.

http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/may/22/statehouse-live-brownback-sign-tax-cut-bill-law-no/

[we can do it]

4. Its always unwatchable to me, but you are right, it's worse now

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. I'm watching 'The Invaders' marathon

Where aliens take over corporations, manipulate the environmental destruction of the planet, run an indoctrination school, try to destroy the NASA space program, and other really paranoid stuff.

Good thing that sixties show was pure fantasy and science fiction.

I liked Roy Thinnes as David Vincent.

[zbdent]

28. they live ...

[Aerows]

11. I live in the Deep South

I know how you feel about those around you who wouldn't vote for anything other than a Republican even if the Republican sodomized a goat on live television and Jesus was the Democratic candidate.

If you are in Florida, this matters because FL is truly where the winning of this election takes place.

If you are somewhere like Mississippi or Alabama, I wouldn't be too concerned, because, let's face it, in conservative states like those, Obama flat cannot win. I would pay close attention to state and local elections, though, and make sure you and those around you still turn out in droves to vote for Democrats.

As far as trying to convince those around me that are conservatives in these areas, though, I've given up. Obama could cure cancer, end world hunger, bring world peace and turn the deficit into a surplus and they would still complain. Fox News and others have been so good at stoking their own internal prejudices and spreading propaganda that those individuals wouldn't vote for a (D) if their lives depended on it (and in some respects, it honestly does, but they don't see it!)

[RKP5637]

22. I've given up on them too. It's an absolute waste of energy to talk to them, the

conversation will go nowheres but downhill.

[forthemiddle]

13. Try living in Wisconsin

Because of last Junes Scott Walker recall, and the Senate recalls before that, we have literally had non stop elections since 2010, and also non stop campaign commercials.
I don't care who is running them, I am sick of them from all sides.
I am truly hoping for at least a 6 month break after November (I can dream can't I).

This of course also includes telephone calls. I work out of my house, so a land line is mandatory. I so wish campaign calls were included on the "Do Not Call List". I, honestly get four candidate calls for every one personal calls. It is ridiculous. But, again, because of my job, I can not rely on caller ID (ie. Unknown caller) because I might be missing a business call.

I can't wait until the elections are over!!!!!!!!!!

[RKP5637]

23. I use my own VOIP and a device called OBi110. Then, I use CALLCentric as

my phone service on my VOIP landline. With CALLCentric one can do anything they want. You can block any call you want, the things you can do are endless.

Here are the links. Note, the OBi110 looks like it's only for Google Voice, but not so.

http://www.amazon.com/OBi110-Service-Bridge-Telephone-Adapter/dp/B0045RMEPI

http://www.callcentric.com/

[bhikkhu]

14. Its been a tool to get people to hate each other for too long

...I quit watching ten years ago - just couldn't stomach the lies, distortion and faux naivete of "the news" anymore.

And the onslaught of reality shows on top of that; not that the format is necessarily bad, but the carry-away message the way it is done is that "people are stupid". Which, though we could all do better, is not true.

And then there's the crime shows - crime-porn, gun porn, gang-porn, snuff-tv - which teach us that its dangerous to go outside and its dangerous to trust people. Which is also largely not true, as you are far more likely to be helped by strangers than harmed, and crime has been decreasing steadily for decades now.

[GranholmFan]

26. Watch Current TV M-Friday

They have some documentaries in the middle of the day that need to be replaced, but there's no phony-ness in their coverage. No David Gregory's or Chuck Todd's or Andrea Mitchell's or other right wing tools. It's progressive.

In the morning (6 AM ET - 9 AM ET) there's the Bill Press radio show, on TV, with lots of in studio guests. Kind of like Don Imus or what Morning Joe could be like if it was, you know, intelligent and not right wing.

From 9 AM ET - 12 PM ET it's Stephanie Miller's radio show, again, on TV, and that's also pretty good. At the top of each hour of both shows they have "Current News updates" with progressive news.

At night, they have Joy Behar ( a liberal), who is getting lots of guests..I think Dee Snider (Twisted Sister) is going to come on next week and talk about how he sent a Cease and Decist to Paul Ryan to stop playing his song at his rallies.

They have The Young Turks with Cenk Uygur ,who was too much a pitbull for MSNBC, challenged too much of the establishment, when Al Sharpton is not doing much better in the ratings...

Then they have Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer. Think what you will of his issues in the past with his sex life - he is incredibly intelligent and has real statistics and is rather interesting if you have a brain and want to use it by the time he comes on.

I'm not sure what they're doing starting next week, if it's a rerun of Behar or not..

But after that, it's JENNIFER GRANHOLM, it's not hard to know what I think of her. Of course I did not live under her while she was Governor, but she has a great show on Current and gave a barnburner of a speech at the DNC.

Coming soon they have John Fugelsang , a liberal commentator/comedian . Also on Fridays they have the Gavin Newsom show, he's the Lt. Governor in California.

I'm sure they'll have more over time as well. Way better than MSNBC, although from time to time I'll tune in to Martin Bashir, who is awesome, or Chris Matthews or Laurence O Donnell of late. But for the most part I don't like that channel anymore, even Maddow is kinda annoying.

[orpupilofnature57]

27. ' The Gutenberg Galaxy ' Marshall Mcluhan

The tyranny of the printed word, distorting facts and figures, using low light , smoke and glass the media can create any illusion they want, and on the guise of a business, can't be held accountable.

[mike_c]

29. TV has been unwatchable since, oh, pick a date-- 1990....

That was the year I pulled the plug on mine, permanently.

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. No ads in California. None at all. about nothing. totally Dem state now

[BOG PERSON]

35. god i can't wait for the fall season to start

i'm so sick of summer programming / infotainment