How are we being programmed?

[dennis in se pa]

1. You can't watch news on the Internet without it being a video that you have to watch 15-30 seconds of an advertisement before you can get to the substance. Why can't they have a plain text version?

2. You have to pay $60 a month for television with commercials. Aren't the commercials supposed to pay for commercial TV?

3. Commercial TV used to be 27 minutes of a show and 3 minutes of commercials. Now its about 17/13.

The only reason I even have a TV service provider is to keep my wife happy. She watches all those high intellect shows such as "Dancing with the Stars"

4. We are forced to sit back while school boards raise our taxes to put astro turf on high school football fields! And if you vote those people out, the next group will do the same!

It amazes me how we have allowed ourselves as a populace to be programmed by those who are in control. Slowly and surely we have come to accept as normal things we would never have accepted at all 20-30 years ago.

I am interested to hear the thoughts of others who are thinking along these lines. I have seen the movie "Alone in the Wilderness". I used to think the guy was crazy. Maybe he had just had enough of the BS. Maybe I am just getting old.

[widgeon13]

No one is forcing you to watch TV as for the Astros turf, vote them out. I never liked sports on Astros turf injuries are up as a result.

[scottmandue]

In fortran

[dennis in se pa]

widgeon13 - I don't mean to be unkind, but did you read the post?
1. I don't watch TV because of my complaints. But my wife does.
2. I mentioned that if you vote them out the next bunch does the same.

I guess it doesn't matter.

[911boost]

Your avatar is programming me to drink more milk.

[widgeon13]

I didn't mean to be rude, and I did read the post. I'm sick of TV and didn't mean to direct my disgust at you. TV is bad these days and getting worse, it's hard to find something worth watching and yes commercials are driving me crazy as well.

On the second point, we just need to keep voting these idiots out. We have to show we have more endurance than they do.

Don't give up, it's going to get worse before it gets any better. Sorry if my message was offensive, typing in that little box on the iphone sucks.

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

widgeon13 - I don't mean to be unkind, but did you read the post?
1. I don't watch TV because of my complaints. But my wife does.
2. I mentioned that if you vote them out the next bunch does the same.

I guess it doesn't matter.

[scottmandue]

Yes TV sucks... I got something like 200 channels and on any given night can't find anything to watch.

DVR and PBS is your friend.

Yes life is nickle and dimming us to death... TV used to be free... radio used to be free... but is is our own fault... we throw money down the toilet chasing after technology... a few years ago top of the line TV was what? A couple hundred dollars? How we don't blink at dropping a couple GRAND on a flat screen!

Cell phone bill, DSL bill, insurance, car payment, mortgage payment, on and on, end of the month we are all in the red.

Politicians? HA! don't make me laugh... no one in their right mind will even run for office.

[afterburn 549]

Have not turned on a TV in years.....it so sucks!

[Dantilla]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

1. You can't watch news on the Internet without it being a video that you have to watch 15-30 seconds of an advertisement before you can get to the substance. Why can't they have a plain text version?

2. You have to pay $60 a month for television with commercials. Aren't the commercials supposed to pay for commercial TV?

A- I have never watched a video on-line where I have to watch a commercial first. As soon as ther commercial starts, I kill the link. There is enough good stuff to see on the internet without being bombarded by stuff I have no desire to see.

B- When analog television broadcasts were terminated, we got rid of our old TV with the rabbit ears antenna. My life is not lacking due to the lack of TV. I'm sure not going to pay for it.

I know we're a bit weird, but I'm okay with that.

[aigel]

No TV in my house for almost a decade now. It is fantastic. TV especially goes after the kids - junk food, toys, all the good stuff.

Netflix for occasional movies and internet for information is all you really need. The kids still get enough exposure to popular culture at their friends house.

G

[aigel]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

I know we're a bit weird, but I'm okay with that.

We fall in that category. We have had numerous people offer us their old TV, thinking we couldn't afford one.

IMHO with the amount of commercials the cable TV should come free with a free TV.

G

[WolfeMacleod]

Originally Posted by dennis in se pa

3. Commercial TV used to be 27 minutes of a show and 3 minutes of commercials. Now its about 17/13.

According to the multitude of paying attention to commercial spans, my DVR says that for every 7 minutes of show, we get between 4-5 minutes of commercial.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

TV is crap. I'm probably dumping my satellite in another month and going with 100% on demand pay-per-view so I can seek out and watch the three or four shows a month I watch without all the crap.

It's a dying medium anyway - a distraction for dullards and the vapid - or for parents looking to get their kids to shut up and do something so they won't have to watch them. Either way I see it as having little value and getting even less valuable as time goes on.

[pksystems]

tivo everything.

Mute the sound in previews before youtube like videos start. Do something else for like 20 seconds.

[oldE]

What is this TV you speak of?

Seriously, we dumped the TV over a decade ago. I get a local 'small town' newspaper for the local current events and do not look at the network news. I find the e feed of the provincial paper and the CBC radio news gives me more than I want to hear.

Good luck with the school boards.
Les

[sc_rufctr]

I still have a TV but rarely watch it... I only really watch "Myth Busters" on cable. Not so much lately.
My kids do but again not that much... Mostly Simpson and Family Guy re runs on cable (Fox8)

Seems the internet is more interesting.

Movies on DVD or Blue-ray only at home... I recently watched the Entire Sopranos series on DVD. All six seasons! Junior's a legend. lol
I always mute the commercials and reject any video online that has a commercial in the beginning.
Just more crap you don't need...

I go out lots and have heaps of friends.



IMHO... Depressed negative people tend to watch a lot of TV. Is it me or does anybody else think this to?

[dennis in se pa]

"Seriously, we dumped the TV over a decade ago"
I guess the Amish have always known something we are just beginning to understand.
I believe 7th Day Adventists don't allow TV either.

We are being progammed to be like those people in "Matrix". The time to revolt is BEFORE they put you in one of those pods!

[stogie25]

I have to agree with the op though I still do pay for satellite tv. In summer I am usually not home enough to watch much at all. When I do it is from the DVR (mostly Jeopardy and very old reruns). In winter I watch more because I am home more. I have found that I leave the tv on a lot even if I am surfing the internet or reading so it becomes more a function of ambient light and noise as opposed to actually watching.

Keep voting the idiots out. While they are usually replaced by worse the system will eventually have to implode and be replaced by common sense again. For everything there is a season. Unfortunately we live in the season of the idiot.