Just When You Thought...
There are those times when you feel like you really are making some progress in your life.
And it can come from some of the most innocuous sources, because we all measure our progress individually. (thank God for that, eh?)
We all prefer victory over defeat, even when we manage to learn something FROM that defeat.
For in that alone, there is STILL victory...as in a victory over ignorance. That's always a nice thing.
But there are those "special" times when you thought things were going along smoothly and then BAM! , something stupid this way comes and upsets your apple cart. You hope you're wrong, but discover once again that you're not.
Let me start out by saying that I like TV...I'm not addicted to it, but there are some shows that I find highly enlightening, well-written, well-acted, and usually on OPPOSITE one another. Talk about conundrums.
I grew up in a "first generation" TV family.
We watched the Honeymooners, Ozzie and Harriet, Highway Patrol, Dragnet, and the like.
The only reality TV we had came from some neighbors a few doors up the block (usually).
We never depended on TV as a means to babysit the children, nor a place to gather ALL the information available. We also had newspapers for that.
We had 3 channels in Philly (3, 6, and 10), until PBS (channel 12) came along.
Later, we got something called UHF stations, and at first you had to have a converter for any channels ABOVE 13. Television makers soon incorporated channels 14-83 into their sets with an on board converter.
As for antennas, we had the old "rabbit ears", and if we were really "well off" we had a roof rack and a "Tenna-Rotor" to optimize the signals.
Many times, an airplane or someone with a weird alternator in their car would play havoc with the reception, but it was only in passing.
And we also got signal "bleed-over" from any HAM radio operator in the area.
But, that was the era of FREE TV.
Can't say that today, can we?
Everything costs something, and in the last several years, we've seen television broadcasting go from ANALOG to DIGITAL.
And did we REALLY need this crap to occur?
Not really....it was all about a few folks BILKING the rest of us, and be sure that all those analog frequencies will be sold and we'll get hung out to dry (as usual). The rumor has analog signals being "sold" to the federal government (big surprise there).
And digital signals are far from perfect, trust me.
But, let's not get TOO far ahead of ourselves in this tale of television woe...
In the late 70s and early 80s, we had something called CABLE TV come along, and suddenly we had the equivalent of a Collier's Encyclopedia at our fingertips, media-wise.
I remember when we FIRST got COMCAST, then a fledgling company located near Springfield, PA, we had BOTH HBO and SHOWTIME in the package, and it all came to UNDER $30 a MONTH!
Sure, we "only" had less than forty channels, but what the hell...it was cool.
Now, one would think that with more and more people buying INTO this gig, that prices would tend to at least stay the same...or even DROP.
Such was not the case...
COMCAST became a cable juggernaut, raising rates at breakneck speed and frequency, and that package we once had became costlier by the year (and those 2 premium channels were dropped from the offering).
Soon, we were paying over $50 a month.
Still, it was better than that "new kid" on the block - SATELLITE TV.
I used to install SAT TV systems for stores, and the one thing you have to remember about ANY system such as this...it's prone to WEATHER conditions, such as wind, rain and snow.








We call it "fade"...when the signal "blips out" and the picture freezes and becomes PIXELATED (looks like digital Lego bricks for a few seconds).
Even trees can affect a signal and it's relative strength, so the higher the SAT dish, the better. That's why we installed them on the ROOFS of those stores.
Later, other cable companies came forward to end the COMCAST monopoly with cable TV, and VERIZON even went so far as to change over from copper cable to fiber optic (FiOS) signal lines...fantastic, you say?
Not so fast. ..there's much more.
**By the way, have you ever noticed that when someone moves into a section 8 rental house, one of the FIRST things these unemployed, welfare-receiving people do is...GET CABLE???
WTF is up with that?
Is cable or satellite service now PART of the WIC program?
Do they automatically get some kind of VOUCHER with that welfare check?
How come THEY can afford (while not working) what others have to WORK FOR to get every month, hmm?
But, I digress...
COMCAST is still the big dog in this hunt...and VERIZON sold off it's cable TV assets (last year) to a company named FRONTIER.
By this time, typical cable packages range from the basic $99 a month - (give or take, depending on extra stuff) to over $150 a month (including premium stuff DVRs, and the like).
Satellite TV was cheaper, but you always get what you pay for (signal fade - it's a meteorological thing).
So without a choice in this matter (except to drop cable altogether and go to satellite) VERIZON customers were "switched" over to Frontier.
That's like changing my VISA cards over to MASTERCARDS...without telling me...I don't like business practices such as that (and neither should you).
Fast forward to now - FRONTIER cable subscribers will see a nice, "healthy" $30 INCREASE in their cable bill, starting in February 2011.

This is happening in INDIANA, OREGON, and WASHINGTON (so far).
Guess Frontier really DOESN'T want to be in the cable TV business...at least not when they pull stunts like this, right?
MY initial "plan" is to shop around, find someone that's cheaper and drop Frontier like a BAD HABIT!
Trouble is...where to go?
Does one return to "the monopoly" which has crap service?
Do you STAY with the current service that will soon cost as much as a new (small) car payment?
Do you go to satellite and reap the "benefits of physics" with questionable reception when it snows or gets windy?
Seems to me that this is another case of forcing people into a particular "thing", namely ONLINE TV.
Which means that INTERNET RATES will jump appreciably to keep pace with the need for more bandwidth space.
And what happens then if the Internet or service provider crashes, hmm?
Computers are lot more hinky than the good old reliable CRT televisions.
Our computers fail at a rate far greater than ANY television set (including those new LCD and PLASMA sets, which have MERCURY in them, in case a HAZMAT team ever shows up at your house...you'll know why)...and they become "obsolete" at a far faster rate.
Does any of this seem like WE, the people are being "herded" in a specific direction? Like we're being FORCED into something we don't really want, but have to have, because all the other technologies have suddenly been rendered non sequitor?
It's getting to the point where ALL facets of our home life will be "controlled" in some fashion by the all-mighty computer (and the Internet).
Now, I don't find using a computer as a TOOL, but I'll be damned if I want ANY of this technology to be RUNNING MY LIFE.
If you're wondering, the government is pursuing the technology required to get us ALL on something they call the "smart-grid"...electricity in our homes that can be "controlled" (gee, just like us in a few decades). Imagine that.
So, whatever TV service you have will be doled out according to whatever whims and wishes someone ELSE decides for you.
It's not a conspiracy theory, folks...it's FACT.
All of this seems to be BY DESIGN.
We are being "cajoled" into the belief that we positively HAVE to "be connected" at all times...look at the simple TELEPHONE these days.
Land lines are falling by the wayside in lieu of these smart phones that can do damn near anything (but tell us the truth behind why we "need" them).
And you'd be hard-pressed to even find a frigging PHONE BOOTH today (Superman is gonna take a tad longer to change his duds).
Now...if I WERE a conspiracy theorist, let me put this forward for all of you to consider:
What BETTER way to "divert" our attention from a much large "agenda", than to toss all these "shiny playthings" in front of the sheeple of America.
And by all means, screw around with out TV viewing as well...that should keep us plenty busy while whatever is going on behind us keeps on rolling along.
Keep the masses stupid, entertained, and confused. A perfect recipe for something bigger in scope.
Tell you one thing...it's gonna get really interesting in the next few years, and not that kind of interesting that you marvel at, but the kind that's gonna keep you screaming "WTF???" at least several times each and every day.
I don't want to knock capitalism in any way...hell, it's kept this nation going for so very long.
And yet, I have this uneasy feeling that something is afoot
The word collusion comes to mind...as if someone is sleeping with the enemy somewhere.
I hope I'm wrong on this, and that cable rates will return to some level of affordability.
I mean, you don't stay in business all that long by pricing yourself OUT of that business, do you?
Well, just consider that as something to contemplate...while you're watching whatever show you like on your television.
The day may come where picking up a REAL BOOK might come back in vogue.
Or you could always stick a piano in the parlor and revive the family sing-along.
The main thing...is that you ALL pay attention to what's going on around you.
If something seems too good to be true..it probably IS.
And if something doesn't seem right...QUESTION it.
It's OUR lives...OUR nation...and OUR future (isn't it always?)
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.