In the Media

I read the newspaper daily and listen to NPR when I drive. The headline on today's paper was about the huge wildfire near Neola, Utah: http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_6279751?source=rv?source=rv. It struck a little too close to home. There have been two small wildfires right near my house. Last summer I sat out on the picnic table with a hose until the wind changed at 2:00 in the morning. I didn't think the flames would reach the house -- John Huntsman Sr.'s house was between mine and the flames. He's the richest man in Utah and the current governor is his son. No way the flames would get through his house and down the hill to mine, but I sure was worried about windblown sparks because the roof on my house at that point was lumber and plastic -- just a wee bit flammable.

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The shiny bit in the lower right corner is my roof line.

I like to know what's going on in the world, so I keep up via the paper and radio. The local TV news is for the weather report, though a friend of mine has rightly christened the weather man the WeatherLiar.

My BelovedEngineer is addicted to CNN; partially because I won't let him watch Fox News. His identical twin watches Fox News, and the Engineer would like to as well, but their commentators spew so much hate I cannot stay in the room while they rant.

Part of it is simple politeness, I was raised by a southern mother. Her mantra was, "Smile. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all." She loves Bill O'Reilly which absolutely baffled me. I think he is the crassest man on television. Calling his show "The No Spin Zone" is totally inaccurate, it should be "The No Spin But My Spin Zone." I call him the RudeDude because he shows no respect whatsoever to other people, he talks over anyone he disagrees with, I've heard him call guests stupid to their faces. I think perhaps, she likes him so because he does what her Fine Southern Lady background won't permit her to do -- he says out loud what he thinks inside. It makes me sad that he has so much ugliness inside.

Ann Coulter is another venom spitter, She confuses vituperative with politics. It's tragic to me that someone gets paid to talk nasty on national television. I think the YouTube clip of her phone call from Elizabeth Edwards shows her true colors. By the end of the phone call, the people in Coulter's audience were applauding Mrs. Edwards. It doesn't matter if I like John Edwards or not, his wife showed herself to be a lady and she has my respect. Ann Coulter does not. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6BBDcZqSF0

So I read the paper. If the story is too ugly, I can read the headline and get the gist, but don't have to absorb all the gory details in full sound and color. I always read the headlines, though, because I do want to know what's going on even if I don't like it.