Search

An Observer of Life in Bad Poetry

Commentary on Daily Life, Politics and Sports

Open Search
Tag

greed

Nickel and Dimeing Your TV Viewing to the Poorhouse

Back in the day television was a simple thing. Three channels of black and white delivered to you by a glorified lightning rod or rabbit ears with tin foil bowties

Then color TV happened with a phrase of “brought to you in living color” with the image of peacock plumage, a true feast for the eyes

One day Ted Turner decided there was more to life than billboard advertising and bought a small UHF station and bounced the signal off satellite and television viewing was never the same

One could forego Bonanza or Lucy and watch roller derby, wrestling, old movies, or a Braves game

So the network owners invested in large satellite dishes and doled out the sudden influx of available programs and channels through their own cable organization

Soon the antennae the viewer used was outdated and that viewer was pressured to purchase cable “packages” that included uncut first run movies and non-stop sports plus all the trumped-up local charges added that usually offered no explanation

Crystal clear viewing touted by the cable companies (if the weather wasn’t storming) came with a price

The basic $32.99 package usually came with your local network affiliates, a couple of home shopping networks, a Christian station, and could be used only with a single device

You want the Movies? Add an extra $4.99. A sports package showing the major sports? Another $6.99. First run original shows? Again another $4.99. Or you can bundle them all for $16.99. And with this bundle you can now view the shows in two different rooms

The network executives fueled by their own greed quickly realized the more bait that’s dangled the more the viewer consumes

But cable and the satellite networks both had their problems. Cable required miles of wire and a fleet of service people. The satellite networks required service and careful placement of the dish. And still a summer thunderstorm could knock out both

Many times the beer was cold, the friends were there, it was game time, when a crack of lightning turned the TV screen off accompanied by choruses of a four letter oath

And then came the streaming services. Eureka, now the greed mongers could send their signal through the consumers’ own equipment and charge the suckers for their programming only without the fleet of service employees

And different programming can be selected by viewers and those selections can be funneled to advertisers in those cities

And much like cable, different levels of programming can still apply. Only now for different networks they can have their own upcharges. What’s another $2.95 per channel for uninterrupted viewing

It won’t be long before the monthly bill with all the fine print shows up for $175 with all the charges you’ve been accruing

And the golden goose of sports honks loudest of all. You want Thursday night NFL? Invest in a Prime Membership. NFL in Europe? Another upcharge. College game on ESPN 3? Invest you turkey. Wildcard game on Peacock? Give till it hurts

And when they’re lowering your casket into that cold ground as the family stands by in silence wondering where their next meal will come from. Just remember they’ll be thinking of the small fortune squandered to a group of greedy broadcasting perverts

7

An Easy Path To Bipartisanship

Much has been made about the lack of bipartisanship in Congress. The Democrats are too liberal and the Republicans all sit to the right of Genghis Kahn

The ability to achieve anything is accomplished only through threat of government shutdown on a conclusion forgone

The hand wringing is only getting worse as those elected want to control all the balls in their sandbox

Control the box, enrich yourself with pet projects, pork for the large donors, and insider trading upgrading your portfolio of stocks

No one reaches across the aisle, offers a workable solution, or considers the voters

This selfishness has only created chaos at the southern border, the murder of thousands of Ukrainian and Russian soldiers and the blowing of Taps for gasoline motors

However, there exists a pathway to this elusive bipartisanship. It’s simply called shoot a liar

The rules are clear cut. Take any official regardless of party affiliation, caught in a provable lie and throw their name in a rotating bingo cage. Once a year draw a name, stand that person in front of a firing squad and open fire

The day that miscreant is called would be tax day and a homeless vet gets to draw the name

When the person is notified they’re included in the cage they’ll be given a chance to come clean or deny the blame

The name then stays in the cage until their name is drawn, or they “fess up,” resign and disappear

So round and round the cage goes and whose name is drawn nobody knows creating huge Vegas betting odds and loser tears

Once a name is drawn it’s too late. There is no jury trial just a videotape of the proven lie

Then a quick march over to the execution wall as that person chose deceit and greed over truth and its now time to die

Like rats leaving a sinking ship, Washington’s swamp would in no time resemble a ghost town

As both politicians and various influencers climb over each other’s backs before they’re lying at the base of the wall facedown

Those left would strive to work together as America was founded on truth, compromise and individual rights

The day of the lie would be over, Congress would quickly learn to work together and that is what unites

0

Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑