as the corner turns

My original plan for this blog was to share my rants and raves about the newscasts that I hear, thus sharing my wisdom with the world. Oh, lucky world! As I started listening to Rachel Maddow tonight, I found I couldn't stick with it. Much as I truly appreciate and enjoy her reporting, sometimes she gets a little too righteous. Most people wouldn't be watching unless they agreed with her basic worldview. That's why I don't watch Fox news ( using the term "news" very loosely) - I don't agree with their worldview. There's no need to be so strident when 95% of your audience agrees with you.
Now I'm wondering if the world really needs another set of opinions that don't actually change anything. If I'm not actively involved in making changes, why add to the noise? I am in the same situation of preaching to the choir - people who don't agree with my point of view probably won't read it.
I'll be rethinking the blog's purpose.

ok, this blog thing is a challenge. I had all these ideas of what I would write about, but the ideas have gone on vacation. I started this as an outlet for all the frustrations, irritations amd ramifications that come to me whenever I listen to network news, NPR, Rachel Maddow and the like. So I need to write these after working all day, followed by listening to one of the aforementioned programs. Writing in the middle of a very pleasant, lazy Saturday afternoon does not bring the same thought process. What strikes me is that the people I talk to as I make my way through the day are nothing like the crazies on TV. Most people try to be pleasant and helpful. Who are these people that shout mean-spirited racist slogans at public meetings?  And why do they get so much attention in the media? Turning your back to a child or dog misbehaving is the most devasting thing you can do as punishment. Giving the inappropriate behavior more attention by yelling and so on only guarantees that the behavior will continue. If all the liars and screamers just didn't get any air-time they would dwindle away of their own accord. It's no fun without an audience. We keep giving validity to garbage. All the garbage will continue as long as we participate by watching and allowing it to continue.

Well, that stream of thought certainly meandered away from lazy, pleasant Saturday afternoons. And can I just add that air conditioning is one of the true pleasures of life in 100 degree heat? After a week of  100 degree heat wave without AC, here's my big thank you to Willis Carrier, the inventor of the modern air conditioner. He actually came up with the idea while waiting for a train on a foggy night. He worked at a Brooklyn printing plant. Fluctuations in heat and humidity in his plant had caused the dimensions of the printing paper to keep altering slightly, enough to ensure a misalignment of the colored inks. The new air conditioning machine created a stable environment and aligned four-color printing became possible. And here I am - a trainor for software designed for the printing industry. wow. synchronicity. cool.

source for Willis Carrier info:http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa081797.htm

just getting started

Hello World, welcome to Another Corner Heard From. It seems as though everyone is a pundit these days, so I'm adding my opinion to the cacophany. It's time to stop talking back to the TV and the radio. Hopefully I'll be as eloquent here as I am in my car. I'm interested in anyone's thoughts regarding these posts. But keep in mind, I'm expressing opinions & random thoughts. I'm not out to "get" anyone. Primarily I'm bewildered by the statements & actions of many people today. The news rarely sounds like the reporting of facts. It has become a series of announcements of other people's opinions & predictions, and reactions to the aforementioned announcement of opinions. It used to be a standard joke that being a weatherman (because at that time there were no weather-women) was the only job you could have where you could be wrong every day and still get paid. Now, Economists have taken their place. The weather reports are accurate 95% of the time. When was the last time you heard an announcement that included the phrase "just as the Economists predicted....."? No. It's "contrary to economic predictions.." "The blah-blah earnings or indicators or rates are higher (or lower) than Economic Analysts' expectations." Why do we listen? The average person knew we were into a recession months before the Econs scientifically proved it. I have predictions of my own. C'mon, CNN or MSNBC or Fox. Just ask me. I can't be much more wrong than your experts.