I used to be a prodigious consumer of news. I read a
newspaper daily and relied on the evening television news to keep up to speed
on what was going on. As I’ve said in prior posts I’ve become really
disillusioned with television news over the past few years. Instead of
accurately and succinctly reporting facts we seemed to have devolved into the
age of sound bites. Every major story has to include a human interest interview
with someone affecting by whatever that news story is concerned with. Looked at
objectively this means we’re hearing one person’s experience with something
that likely is affecting thousands, if not millions.
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| FBR Escaped the House! |
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| Hitting the Pavement |
The best example I can give you is the default interview
with a survivor of a tornado, standing outside where their mobile home used to
be. With today’s coverage of the coronavirus we’re getting the first hand
individual sound bites almost constantly but this takes time away from the more
important societal impacts and, God forbid, any other news. This results in a
very subtle but very real editorializing of the news, telling a story instead
of reporting the news.
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| Socially Distanced Play Date |
A great illustration of the danger of this comes from
a battlefield. A private in a front line unit that is getting its ass kicked
would think the battle is lost because he wasn’t aware of the larger scheme in
which his side was winning decisively. We’re now getting our news in the same
way we would by looking at an aerial photo through a soda straw. The problem
obviously is who is deciding what part of the photo the soda straw is pointed
at. Maybe we should all go back to depending on newspapers again, at least the
online versions. We may be seeing the death knell of television news.
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| BRS Reacting to an Early Morning M&M |
The sun finally returned to the eastern seaboard yesterday
which was certainly welcome, especially down in New Jersey. The FBR was able to
escape the house with Wingman for a walk around the neighborhood which they
both really needed. They even had a brief, socially distanced play date in the
front yard of one of her best buddies. My Favorite Panamanian’s package of her
first ever batch of macaroon cookies along with some face masks arrived. The
FBR promptly broke the strap on her Disney princess one but that can be easily
repaired. My wife’s cookies were a big hit. I kind of knew that was coming because
she polished off all the ones she didn’t give away in a couple days.
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| BRS Helping Dad with Breakfast Prep |
The BRS continues to provide the bulk of comedic
relief we get each day. She’s a very strong willed young lady and very bright.
I laugh when I think what my son and the ABFA will face during her teenage years.
She seems to get the concept of potty training but not the details. While we
were Facetiming yesterday she told her dad she wanted to go to the potty and
started pulling down her pants. This was exciting news until my son noticed she
had a fragrantly full diaper already. The BRS however would not consent to a
diaper change before getting on the potty. We left the call while negotiations continued
between the two of them.
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| 007 Progress |
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RECURRING
CHARACTERS
BR3
– inbound
granddaughter #3, BRS - Blog Reader the Sequel
- second granddaughter; FBR - First Blog
Reader - first granddaughter, ABFA –
Amazing Best Family Athlete = my daughter in law; Wingman – my son in law; Keene
Friends 1 & 2 – friends since high school from my home town of Keene,
NH; Soxfather - my brother in law; Great Aunt - my elder sister; Cantankerous Friend – friend since
grade school who likes to argue about everything, poses as radical leftist to
attract women; Pittsburgh College
Roommate – high school friend, also a “Minor Celebrity” in Pittsburgh; Deckzilla – our backyard deck which
grew to monstrous dimensions once my wife got involved in planning; Maine and Virginia Musqueteras – two
close friends of my wife – her US sisters, my wife is the 3rd musquetera
(musketeer); Riggins - also known as
the Grandpuppy, son's dog; PanaGals
– female relatives/friends of my wife from Panama; Panamanian/Latin Mafia – inevitable group of Latino friends my wife
accumulates wherever we have lived & their spouses; Neighborhood Mafioso - wife's close friend and Panamanian mafia
member, Favorite Panamanian - the
wife (of course); First Friday –
celebrations to mark the First Friday of the Week; Curbside Girls – close friends of my daughter acquired during her
single days in Brooklyn
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