Television. I don't know anyone that doesn't occasionally glance at it here or there, or watch their favorite show on Thursday nights. As a matter of fact, I have a couple of friends that are TV junkies. There's nothing wrong with that if you don't have anything better to do, or you don't want to be doing anything else I guess. But honestly Austin? Throwing a fit over KXAN not being broadcast? Odds are that if you are in Austin and have cable, or are breathing you have Internet. Streaming videos...it's a wonderful thing.
I just find it amazing that so many people, normal people, EDUCATED people, would get so upset that Time Warner was dropping their signal. I read this article today about the KXAN fiasco. Here's the link if you want to read it yourself. KXAN The article said that ratings dropped 40%. No, you didn't read that wrong. It said 40%. Holy crap people! One woman even said “Our family is getting tired of all this and may stop watching NBC and give up Time Warner". WOW. I honestly cant believe that so many peoples lives revolve around the television. I feel a little left out. After I am finished for the day, between working two jobs and going to school, i find it hard to make it to the bed sometimes. I wonder if the "families" that are so upset about losing one channel on the television really do family things. Is this what our society has turned into? Is this how we spend our "family" time now? When i still lived at home, which was not that long ago, my parents did stuff with us. We were outside as much as possible. They asked us about our days. We didn't spend our together time watching shows like "Biggest Loser".
I'm in now way bashing people that do spend their time that way, but if you do, is it really a big deal to gather around NBC.com or to change the channel? My biggest concern is why our NEWSPAPERS are focusing on this. This isn't news. It's entertainment, or lack there of. As I'm sure you have noticed, if you are one of those TV junkies, KXAN is now back, just in time for the fall lineup. YEAH! I find it interesting that this article was about a page and a half, but the article about the child molester in Williamson County was not even a quarter of a page. I mean even the article about Hutto's Farmers Market was longer than the child molester article. Yes, that is what i want to read when i open the NEWSpaper - How Hutto is losing it's farmers market. I didnt want to know about all the actual news that is happening in Austin and it's surrounding areas. I don't want to know about new legislature that might be affecting me, or about the current issues being debated in the elections. I just want to know about Hutto's Farmers market and Time Warner's Channels. While were at it, why not tell me about the Sarah Palin look-alike contest. That's hard hitting journalism right there Statesman.
By the way, Time Warner, if you are reading this, i want my money back! 120 bucks a month, and for what? I didn't even have NBC there for a couple months! :) But really, lower your prices. Every time i go to pay my bill, i feel like someone is beating me up and taking my lunch money.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Random Road Blocks?
Whoa. Random road blocks might be legal in thee near future. What does that say for Texas if we allow that to happen? Here's the article Road Blocks. I found it on Scott Henson's blog called Grits for breakfast, and let me just say, he's pretty fantastic in my book. On to the meat and potatoes.
So in his article, Scott talks about how DPS here in Texas is trying to bring about the topic of random road blocks and their legality. This bill has been submitted and rejected 3 other times already! They just changed the name, and resubmitted it. Basically, DPS wants to circumvent the legal system and authorize the road blocks and randomly check drivers' licenses, insurance and registration. Oh! And they want the Police Departments help! Sure! Right now all they want to check is the above mentioned documents. Next week, it'll be "Ma'am, You're documents seem to be in order, but im gonna need you to step outside of the vehicle." "What's the problem officer?" "You look a little bit deshevled, it seems to me that you might have been drinking." "I've been running sir, I'm in jogging clothes and my dog is in the back of the car panting. " "Well sure, that's what you want me to think." REALLY? REALLY?
Scott and myself totally agree on this subject. I can only imagine what will be next if this bill is successful and gets passed. Random road blocks. Dangerous territory. We are a Democracy. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. If we let this ridiculous bill enter our legislative system, we might as well kiss our freedom goodbye. I totally agree that something needs to be done about our over the top DWI/DUI percentages, but i honestly dont believe that infringing on random people's liberties will help all that much. Here's an idea. Why not make DPS take away all licenses of people 21 and younger. Statistics show that this age group accounts for 11 percent of DWI's in Texas. Here's the link - DWI. Honestly, being a huge college town, we are probably always going to have a huge DWI rate, and there will always be people slipping through the cracks. Setting up random barricades and making people hand over their information without cause is not the way to fix it.
So in his article, Scott talks about how DPS here in Texas is trying to bring about the topic of random road blocks and their legality. This bill has been submitted and rejected 3 other times already! They just changed the name, and resubmitted it. Basically, DPS wants to circumvent the legal system and authorize the road blocks and randomly check drivers' licenses, insurance and registration. Oh! And they want the Police Departments help! Sure! Right now all they want to check is the above mentioned documents. Next week, it'll be "Ma'am, You're documents seem to be in order, but im gonna need you to step outside of the vehicle." "What's the problem officer?" "You look a little bit deshevled, it seems to me that you might have been drinking." "I've been running sir, I'm in jogging clothes and my dog is in the back of the car panting. " "Well sure, that's what you want me to think." REALLY? REALLY?
Scott and myself totally agree on this subject. I can only imagine what will be next if this bill is successful and gets passed. Random road blocks. Dangerous territory. We are a Democracy. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty. If we let this ridiculous bill enter our legislative system, we might as well kiss our freedom goodbye. I totally agree that something needs to be done about our over the top DWI/DUI percentages, but i honestly dont believe that infringing on random people's liberties will help all that much. Here's an idea. Why not make DPS take away all licenses of people 21 and younger. Statistics show that this age group accounts for 11 percent of DWI's in Texas. Here's the link - DWI. Honestly, being a huge college town, we are probably always going to have a huge DWI rate, and there will always be people slipping through the cracks. Setting up random barricades and making people hand over their information without cause is not the way to fix it.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Nuclear Power...Our saving grace.
Until reading this article by Patrick Moore I had no idea that Texas is leading the pack of states that are trying desperately to reduce their "Carbon Footprints". The article is titled "The case for more nuclear power in Texas." and it can be found in the Dallas Morning News, or here Nuclear Power.
In his article, Pat describes how a Texas Nuclear Power Company just applied for a permit for two new power plant sites. There are now 6 sites pending, which could potentially double our states production of electricity that is virtually Carbon free.
Patrick Moore is "a co-founder of Greenpeace and co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, a national grass-roots coalition that promotes nuclear power. " He seems legit to me. Kidding. He is deep into the issue of cleaner energy production. The article seems to be targeting people who may not know much about Nuclear power and it's benefits. He goes into depth about how the building of new plants would help the economy greatly.
I agree with Pat. Nuclear power seems to be a route that we NEED to take. The major reduction of greenhouse gases produced by the dwindling number of electricity plants will be a great benefit on it's own. Factor in the amount of new jobs produced and the cheaper energy source, and we may have a winner. With the prices of oil, electricity, and pretty much everything else going up, we need to find an alternative. Texas is among the few states in the U.S. that are searching to find alternative power sources. Let's hope it all gets approved.
In his article, Pat describes how a Texas Nuclear Power Company just applied for a permit for two new power plant sites. There are now 6 sites pending, which could potentially double our states production of electricity that is virtually Carbon free.
Patrick Moore is "a co-founder of Greenpeace and co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, a national grass-roots coalition that promotes nuclear power. " He seems legit to me. Kidding. He is deep into the issue of cleaner energy production. The article seems to be targeting people who may not know much about Nuclear power and it's benefits. He goes into depth about how the building of new plants would help the economy greatly.
I agree with Pat. Nuclear power seems to be a route that we NEED to take. The major reduction of greenhouse gases produced by the dwindling number of electricity plants will be a great benefit on it's own. Factor in the amount of new jobs produced and the cheaper energy source, and we may have a winner. With the prices of oil, electricity, and pretty much everything else going up, we need to find an alternative. Texas is among the few states in the U.S. that are searching to find alternative power sources. Let's hope it all gets approved.
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