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You are here: Home / How Do People Do It?

How Do People Do It?

by John Cole|  April 22, 20153:18 pm| 208 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment

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I’m in TireAmerica having my tires rotated, my alignment done, my oil changed, and my annual inspection, and Faux News is running and I can actively feel myself getting less informed by the second. I’m having visceral, painful reactions every time I hear Bill O’Reilly or that blonde woman from the morning speaks.

I wouldn’t force my worst enemies to watch this. How do people do this? I really feel for the folks at websites who monitor this station all day long to document the lies.

*** Update ***

Asked them to change it to the Weather Channel, and as it was happening, I heard an audible “Thank God” from another customer.

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Previous Post: « Michael Eric Dyson, Cornel West, And All Of The Words
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Reader Interactions

208Comments

  1. 1.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 22, 2015 at 3:21 pm

    I have a similar reaction to all cable news and even the Snooze hour, especially when they start giggling and discussing the horse race.

  2. 2.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    April 22, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    John,
    it gets a lot easier after you lose that first 50 IQ points, just sayin’.

  3. 3.

    Arm The Homeless

    April 22, 2015 at 3:22 pm

    I realized my HTC One (M7) & (M8) has a built in IR blaster. My phone allows me to turn off most TVs made in the past decade. It’s the best thing since sliced cheese.

  4. 4.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 3:23 pm

    I will go to management and ask them to change the channel. Mostly to see where it goes. Only had one place refuse. In Orange County, CA, natch.

  5. 5.

    Renie

    April 22, 2015 at 3:24 pm

    Ask them to change the channel. If more people do this when Faux News is on in public places, hopefully, other stations will appear more often. But I wish the tvs were off completely; I remember those days…….

  6. 6.

    bemused

    April 22, 2015 at 3:25 pm

    I switched over to Fox out of curiosity but probably won’t be able to stomach it long. Shepard Smith is supposed to be more sane than the rest, isn’t he?

  7. 7.

    jl

    April 22, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    ” I hear Bill O’Reilly or that blonde woman from the morning speaks. ”

    You mean?
    ” I hear Bill O’Reilly or that blonde woman from the morning speak. ”

    Then what do you mean by ‘that’ blonde woman? They have dozens of them. (Which makes me think it is a good thing there is only one Bill O’Reilly.)

    Or is there a Fox News show called ‘the morning speaks’?

    When I am exposed to involuntary public accommodation Fox News TV in California, the sound is usually turned down so low that no one pays any attention to it. Maybe it is a the TV of choice out here because of all the Fox babes, which are pretty to look at.

  8. 8.

    Poopyman

    April 22, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    Cole, your worst enemies DO watch it. And suck it right up.

  9. 9.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    sorry for OT but here’s a little earth day post about the stupidest argument against protecting the delta smelt and habitat.

  10. 10.

    Belafon

    April 22, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    Newspeak. If people don’t know what the truth is, they won’t know to ask for it.

  11. 11.

    Lee Rudolph

    April 22, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    At least at TireAmerica I bet you can find some place to hang around where the sound of airpumps, metal hitting metal, etc., drowns out the audio (and if you’re willingly looking at the video even then, I disown you). There’s no such escape while you’re pending hours in a hospital waiting room (ER; radiology; lots of different ones!) where FOX is on.

  12. 12.

    Karen in GA

    April 22, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    I gave up on any kind of TV news years ago. I’ll watch Sky News on the Roku occasionally, but only because it reminds me of my greatly enjoyed trip to London.

  13. 13.

    Arm The Homeless

    April 22, 2015 at 3:28 pm

    I concur, asking the establishment to change the channel sends a message that their customers are paying attention. If they refuse then I will use my phone to correct the issue. Its also nice for messing with the neighbors when they’re loud at 2am

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    April 22, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    I find it agonizing to watch too. Luckily, I’m good at tuning things out. It’s a defense mechanism all parents develop.

  15. 15.

    misterpuff

    April 22, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    Ah FOX News, where Obama is a terrifying schizophrenic, both weak and strong, both Nazi and Commie, both Tyrant and Fool. Where Nancy Pelosi is a Harpy and even mild-mannered Harry Reid has horns growing out of his head. When you hear it enough, it becomes commonplace.

    Pelosi is the tell by the way, when someone tells you Pelosi is the author of all that’s wrong with this country, someone’s got Fox on most of the day…

  16. 16.

    Greg

    April 22, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    If there are other options available without undo effort, I tell whoever is working that I’m leaving because of what they choose to put on their TV screens and take my business elsewhere.

    Unfortunately, were I live in deep Tea Party land, that isn’t often an option.

  17. 17.

    catclub

    April 22, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    @Arm The Homeless: I vote for this. Mute, change channel, turn off.

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    Def ask to change the channel or, best, have it turned off.

    Tell Tire America they will get no more business from you if you’re forced to watch Fox.

    I hate TV on in medical waiting rooms too. That’s what magazines are for. Quiet, colorful magazines.

    Or the book one brought along. Great reading oppty.

  19. 19.

    catclub

    April 22, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    @bemused:

    Shepard Smith is supposed to be more sane than the rest, isn’t he?

    A low bar.

  20. 20.

    Lavocat

    April 22, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    Consider this your assignment – should you decide to accept it – behind enemy lines.

    Tough it up there, Cole.

  21. 21.

    dedc79

    April 22, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    Is it unrealistic to hope that the NY Times, the Guardian, and a few of the other remaining “esteemed” newspapers would get together and start their own 24/7 news networks? There aren’t many news outfits still doing any investigative journalism at all, and the cable news networks are basically just offering angry commentary about news stories that they poached from the Times/Guardian/etc…

    Once tv programming gets unbundled, who is going to pay for CNN or MSNBC? (We know there will be a million or two wingnuts willing to shell out for Fox News).

  22. 22.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    I’m in a bit of a feud with my gym about Fox News being on. I’ve quit going because they’re so unhelpful.

    Apparently the gym has a new director. I think I’m going to request a meeting and bring along some demographics data for Fox News viewers. Does anyone have a good source for that sort of thing. You know, the type of info that would show that most viewers are over 65 and white (which the membership of the gym is not). If there’s also any data on how Fox News is racist or sexist or anything like that, I’d like to toss that into the mix.

  23. 23.

    bemused

    April 22, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    @catclub:

    True enough.

  24. 24.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 22, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    I’ve been finding more often that in waiting areas where TV’s are the norm, they are tuned to home renovation porn or something equally harmless. Is that just me, or is it an actual thing?

  25. 25.

    Nicole

    April 22, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    A friend of mine from Florida commented that her dad has been going to bed early now, and no longer stays up for “The O’Reilly Factor.” I told her not to be surprised if she sees a decrease in her dad’s anger levels.

  26. 26.

    the Conster

    April 22, 2015 at 3:40 pm

    @Violet:

    The last time I was in a gym with overhead TVs, there were three or four going at a time, mostly tuned to sports. It’s all closed captioned, anyway, isn’t it? Now, each machine has its own screen. Much better for overall mental health as well as physical.

  27. 27.

    Cacti

    April 22, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    My wife’s grandmother has dementia and lives with my wife’s folks. She has trouble remembering who friends and family are, or even what she said just a moment ago.

    She just spends her days sitting in her favorite chair and watching Fox News because it’s comforting to her.

    Her existence seems like a hell on earth to me.

  28. 28.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 22, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    @Elizabelle: I think medical offices have removed magazines because they contribute to the spread of germs.

  29. 29.

    grandpa john

    April 22, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    Reminds me of a Cap’n D’s nearby that we sometimes eat at. they have two TV’s tuned two different channels ( usually Fux and CNN which is just as bad) but no sound on either because they have piped in music coming from ceiling speakers, and No one is paying attention to any of them

  30. 30.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 3:42 pm

    I’d do a little capitalism slight of hand and say, “I’ll make you a deal, knock fifty bucks off my bill and I won’t raise a ruckus over Fox News playing in the waiting room.”

    Anybody else love the smell of new tyres? Must have been implanted when I was a kid, but I still like it.

  31. 31.

    My Truth Hurts

    April 22, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    Just goes to show you what heroes John Stewert and his staff have been for the last 16 years.

  32. 32.

    Betty Cracker

    April 22, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I’ve noticed that too. Dentists and doctors offices tend to show cooking or renovation shows around here. Maybe because they’re non-controversial.

  33. 33.

    Doug r

    April 22, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @Renie: when we were staying near Silverwood Idaho around Katrina time, Fox “news” was on in the common room. When no one else was there I slipped it over to CNN

  34. 34.

    NonyNony

    April 22, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    Asked them to change it to the Weather Channel, and as it was happening, I heard an audible “Thank God” from another customer.

    If Fox News is on at my local garage when I take my car in, there’s almost never anyone actually watching it. I think the guy who runs the place turns on the TV in the lounge and just figures that everyone wants to watch Fox News or something.

    I usually ask something like “would anyone mind if I looked for a game on here” or even sometimes “is anyone really watching this – can I just turn it off?” and generally get a lot of “please do” responses. Customers don’t often think they have the power to ask to have the channel switched (or in some cases just do it themselves) and will just leave it there and try to ignore it.

    (One of the local sports pubs is terrible at putting Fox News on exactly one of their TVs and then for some reason sitting me at the table right in front of it. I think it’s a running joke with their waitstaff at this point or something – I always ask them to switch it to the Golf channel. I don’t really like golf all that much but it’s better than Fox News and it’s a station that I know they have and isn’t on any of the other TVs so I know they’ll change it. If I can’t use my outward appearance as an old white male stereotype to do some good in this world then why bother?)

  35. 35.

    Roy G.

    April 22, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    Also, too, CNN.

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    Did you see the latest midwater trawl results? They found one(1) delta smelt. One.

  37. 37.

    bemused

    April 22, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    @Violet:

    You’d think the majority over 65 demographic watching Fox opposite of gym membership would be pretty persuasive.

  38. 38.

    Duncan Watson

    April 22, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    I love the muttered “thank god” when the channel was changed.

  39. 39.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    @the Conster: At this particular gym there are two TVs on the wall. Some of the machines (treadmills, etc.) also have their own TV screens but these particular ones are over the free weight section. One is always tuned to ESPN. The other used to vary but sometime last year became Fox News all the time.

    I’ve complained but the only thing they’ll do it change the channel for me, then I become the “bad guy.” I have explained that the issue is that it’s on all the time. I understand some people may want to watch it at certain times, but I don’t think it should be the only thing always on. I got nowhere so I quit going.

  40. 40.

    Mike in NC

    April 22, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    One of the perks of being Senior Watch Officer was controlling what network was playing on the big screen TV.

  41. 41.

    grandpa john

    April 22, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    My docs waiting room has TV but it is tuned to some medical channel that shows health related programming.

  42. 42.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    @bemused: I need actual data to support my assertion of the Fox News viewer demographic. Does anyone know where I can find that?

  43. 43.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    @trollhattan: FSM dammit. will check it out. thx for sharing.

  44. 44.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 22, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @Violet: Make it up. Everybody else does. 81.7% of the statistics on the Internet are made up.

  45. 45.

    FlipYrWhig

    April 22, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @Violet: My gym (run by the county) has one perma-Fox, one perma-CNN, one perma-ESPN, and then a bunch of “floaters.” Then the elliptical machines have their own screens with their own tuners. I always have a little surge of nausea when I get on a machine after a Fox watcher, BECAUSE I KNOW HE CHOSE IT ON PURPOSE EW EW EW

  46. 46.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @Violet: Fox News kills business.

    as it was happening, I heard an audible “Thank God” from another customer.

    That’s the thing. We’re more aware maybe, and a little more confrontational than the average TireAmerica prisoner customer, and so it’s good to speak up. Courteously.

  47. 47.

    acallidryas

    April 22, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    My Dad’s gym played Fox News when he started going there and was resistant at first when he complained. He told them he was a heart attack patient (which he was: this gym had a cardiac health program our insurance paid for) and that Fox News was bad for his health and they eventually switched it over.

  48. 48.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    @Violet:
    Rough cut here.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 3:53 pm

    @grandpa john: That’s the worst. Medical porn. I ask for that to be silenced, and I’ve gone and waited outside if they don’t.

  50. 50.

    Mike J

    April 22, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Up here the people that sell fishing equipment are pissed because there will be no season for chinook in Puget Sound this year. They argue it will drive people out of state and cost Washington jobs. I don’t know how closing the fishery for year could be worse for the economy than killing all the fish that laid the golden roe.

  51. 51.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    Has anyone ever used that TV B Gone device? I’ve not, but it’s a tempting idea.

  52. 52.

    kindness

    April 22, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    I question businesses that have Fox playing on their waiting room tubes. I get that the owner may like it but don’t they realize that it might just get half their paying customers to buy elsewhere?

    Or would the business owner then be right to sue me because I didn’t buy from them them. Kinda like how Florida is suing the Federal govt over free health care monies.

  53. 53.

    FlipYrWhig

    April 22, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    @Violet: This is from last year, but matches what I’ve heard again recently.

  54. 54.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 22, 2015 at 3:56 pm

    OT, but anyone near College Station, TX might want to make time to attend a lecture next Wednesday with the intriguing title of “American Liberalism Must Be Destroyed: Insights from Professor Alexander Dugin, Kremlin Insider and Informal Adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.” Dugin is attending by video, unfortunately, since he seems to be on some pesky sanctions list. The lecture is apparently organized by an A&M alum named Preston Wigginton, who is fascinating in his own right.

  55. 55.

    FlipYrWhig

    April 22, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    @Elizabelle: I went to a 24-hour emergency vet that had their waiting room TV on Animal Planet. Seems reasonable at first, but the late-night lineup (at least that night) skewed towards true stories of vicious animal attacks.

  56. 56.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    @Mike J: right there with ya. how dare the regulators try to protect your long term interests, fish industry?

  57. 57.

    Nicole

    April 22, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    @Violet: Here’s a link:

    http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/05/fox-newss-old-viewership-is-getting-even-older/371792/

    The problem is, as old as their demographic is, it’s still the most-watched news station- basically, old people watch FOX News and young people don’t watch news at all. I think you may need to ask it just go to something besides news. Or “news,” in this case.

  58. 58.

    muddy

    April 22, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    They had it on in the waiting room for labs at the hospital, it was hitched way up by the ceiling. No remote or visible buttons (possibly they were on the top). I asked and apparently the remote is kept locked in an office where no one ever is.

    I climbed up on a chair and pulled the cord out. People looked a little surprised but not put out. I left a sternly worded note at the locked office. The next time I went it was on the Weather Channel.

  59. 59.

    FlipYrWhig

    April 22, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: “Preston Wigginton” cannot be the name of a real person. It’s like what you’d call a character in a short story about a yacht race.

  60. 60.

    Iowa Old Lady

    April 22, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    If Fox is on, I always ask to have the channel changed. It’s easier if I ask for a specific thing like weather or sports or cooking. Usually people don’t care, or if they do, they’re not going to be mean to the little old lady.

  61. 61.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: These are statistics I’m going to take with me to a meeting. I don’t want my argument to be undermined by made up statistics that can be checked in two seconds.

  62. 62.

    Fridaynext

    April 22, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    Actually, in my area more and more places are going to pre-canned television running on continuous loop geared toward the venue. For example, my auto repair place has some sort of “Auto TV” which plays sit-com reruns, reruns of morning news features (never hard news but “The fashion that’s sweeping the nation”) and lots of commercials, info-mercials, and commercials made to look like news shows pushing the garage chain or the products they sell. I recently had occasion to visit multiple doctors in my area and they all had the same thing, but included health “news” and related commercials. And they do loop. During a long wait in a cardiologist I heard the same piece about lyme disease 3 times.

    It’s all vert inane and commercial, but at least it ain’t Fox news.

  63. 63.

    muddy

    April 22, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: Definitely use wipes on it! Those freedom lovers don’t like being told to wash their hands.

  64. 64.

    Iowa Old Lady

    April 22, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    @muddy: You are my hero.

  65. 65.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    Here’s one article. Am awaiting the first farmer OpEd in the paper saying “Now that they’re gone, we get all that ‘wasted’ water, right?” This one from Sunday really had my blood boiling.

  66. 66.

    burnspbesq

    April 22, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    Is Fox really more painful than Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith?

  67. 67.

    FlipYrWhig

    April 22, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    @muddy: The free market will decide!

  68. 68.

    boatboy_srq

    April 22, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    I can actively feel myself getting less informed by the second. I’m having visceral, painful reactions every time I hear Bill O’Reilly or that blonde woman from the morning speaks.

    Pain leads to anger. Anger leads to suffering. Suffering leads to hate. Hate leads to voting Republican. (apologies to Yoda). This is the Tea Party progression.

    Asked them to change it to the Weather Channel, and as it was happening, I heard an audible “Thank God” from another customer.

    I think businesses would be surprised just how many of their customers detest what they have up on the tube.

  69. 69.

    Gin & Tonic

    April 22, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: Doesn’t strike me as the yachting type.

  70. 70.

    grandpa john

    April 22, 2015 at 4:02 pm

    @Elizabelle: yeah, it’s sort of muted, so I usually don’t watch or listen, but hell, at least it’s not FOX or CNN which I despise just as much

  71. 71.

    boatboy_srq

    April 22, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    @Karen in GA: You DO realize that Sky is a Newscorp property, yes?

  72. 72.

    gelfling545

    April 22, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    I had an appt at the dental school today & as always CNN was playing in the waiting room. I don’t watch any cable news by choice anymore and am always surprised at how shrill & inflammatory the news readers are and this is not even Fox. I put in a suggestion that they play health public service announcements instead.
    I once got stuck in a car dealership waiting room where someone had put the 700 Club on. I told them they could change the channel or bring my car out immediately so I could leave. They changed to a local morning show which was bland but fine. A blank screen & silence would have been even better.

  73. 73.

    boatboy_srq

    April 22, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    @Arm The Homeless: One more reason to keep saving my pennies for the M9…

  74. 74.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    @trollhattan: @FlipYrWhig: @Nicole: Thank you all. I’ll bookmark those.

    I hope they’ll listen to me. I think Fox News is a cancer on our country.

  75. 75.

    Tom

    April 22, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    I just don’t watch live TV, much less Fox News — it’s too frustrating.

    I’m not an anti-TV snob, I just prefer to watch on my own schedule – iTunes, Netflix, HBONow or Hulu plus.

    I usually bring my tablet so I can watch videos or read instead.

  76. 76.

    Mike J

    April 22, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: I didn’t think anybody else remember that song.

  77. 77.

    Ben Cisco

    April 22, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: @Betty Cracker: Definitely non-controversial stuff at the general purpose places. Medical providers have gone to mostly either CNNHealth stuff or internal vids on a loop.

    On the other hand, a cell phone w/headphones helps a lot when dealing with recalcitrant shop owners (for the one time I’ll be there, anyway).

  78. 78.

    Iowa Old Lady

    April 22, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    We’re talking about daytime TV here, which most people don’t watch at all if they have anything better to do.

  79. 79.

    bemused

    April 22, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    @acallidryas:

    I think I love your dad.

  80. 80.

    cckids

    April 22, 2015 at 4:11 pm

    @muddy:

    I climbed up on a chair and pulled the cord out. People looked a little surprised but not put out. I left a sternly worded note at the locked office. The next time I went it was on the Weather Channel.

    You & I are kindred spirits. Over the years, I’ve spent literally months in hospitals & doctor’s offices with my son & later my dad. I no longer have any qualms, or any fucks to give, about asking (nicely but firmly) to not be subjected to Fox News. Ever. So many people put up with shit when there is no reason to.

    Ask for the Weather Channel, ESPN, the Used-to-be-History Channel, or even the decorating/house porn at HGTV, whatever. Find a channel that is innocuous & politely just ask for the change. It usually works better if you don’t specifically knock Faux News; just say you can’t take politics/bad news/the EVIL MEDIA. Chances are the vast majority of people will be thankful.

  81. 81.

    grandpa john

    April 22, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    @gelfling545: I’m with you, I watch no Cable news channels, and seldom any local news shows, I have accuweather on my computer, so I can check the weather at any time with out the hassle of waiting through multiple ads to find out if we are having a bad weather alert. I have the links to online local and state papers on here so I can find out what news I need to know and I damn sure don’t have WaPo or NYT linked

  82. 82.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    @trollhattan: updated post, thanks!
    I’ve run into Wenger up in at the Capitol. whatta douche.

  83. 83.

    bemused

    April 22, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I was shocked that there are still soap operas on daytime tv. I really thought they had died long ago.

  84. 84.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    Is PBO speech on climate change on anywhere? C-Span 3 has some GOP congresscritter from Wisconsin yapping on about Yemen and Saudi Arabia. (Rebroadcast of this morning’s show, I’d guess.)

    None of the cable nets had any mention …

    Scheduled for 4:00 p Eastern, right?

  85. 85.

    raven

    April 22, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    Damn, 5 Georgia Southern students killed in a crash on I-16.

  86. 86.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    @Tom: I’ve mentioned here previously that earlier this year I had a doctor’s appointment. This doctor always has one TV on in the waiting room, which is tuned to a local channel. The volume is very low but somewhat audible. Not loud enough to disturb any conversations or be intrusive, though.

    All the patients are sitting in their various corners when all of a sudden this racket starts. Computer noises, a voice, more noises. Loud. Then it stops. Then starts again. This happens for awhile. I can’t figure out where it’s coming from. At first I thought it was the TV but I could still hear the TV volume and it wasn’t that. Finally I realize it’s coming from the phone of a woman who is apparently playing a game on it. The volume must have been turned all the way up.

    I look around and several of the patients look irritated by the noise. I finally get up and ask the woman if she could possibly mute the volume or wear headphones. She doesn’t even look up, but her heavy sign and body language convey her annoyance that I would dare to ask her to turn it down. She does, though. But for some reason the mute would go off from time to time and the noise would blare out again. She’d mute it within seconds at that point.

    I have no idea what would make someone think it was okay to play a game on their phone or tablet with the volume turned all the way up while they were in a doctor’s waiting room. Really inconsiderate.

  87. 87.

    ShadeTail

    April 22, 2015 at 4:23 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: Let me offer a bit of constructive criticism. Your line that goes as follows:

    “Hurr hurr dummies in California care more about a fish than they do humans.”

    This severely weakens your article. Your readers (unless they are utter morons) will know that you are deliberately paraphrasing the argument you disagree with in the worst possible way, which makes your work a lot less convincing. After all, why should anyone trust you to be fair or accurate if this is how you’re going to portray the people you’re arguing against? Instead of doing this, quote them accurately. Let their words speak for themselves as you knock them down. It’s not like you would have to look very far to find a prominent anti-environmentalist making that argument.

  88. 88.

    Neddy Merrill

    April 22, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    Yep, I complain when that shit channel is being force fed to innocent human beings.

  89. 89.

    The Gray Adder

    April 22, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    @jl: Probably means Megyn Kelly, although I would think Gretchen Carlson would grind one’s gears more.

  90. 90.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 4:24 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:
    The OpEd had his mugshot and he looked familiar, probably been sniffing around the office at some point. At first I mixed his name up with Oliver Wanger, causing much confusion.

  91. 91.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 4:27 pm

    @ShadeTail: that’s fair. and I appreciate your time and advice.

  92. 92.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    @trollhattan: he’ll pop up like a prairie dog if someone starts talking about ag rights.

  93. 93.

    Karen in GA

    April 22, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    @boatboy_srq: Like I said, I just leave it on occasionally because it brings me back to my London trip. It was the only news channel I could find in the hotel room. Not being a local, and in fact never having been to the UK, I watched it out of curiosity.

    It’s like a dopey pop song that was popular during a happy time in your life. The memories it brings back matter more than the stupidity of the song.

    (Now ask me how often “occasionally” is.)

  94. 94.

    MattF

    April 22, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    I don’t watch Teeveenews– but I’ve been in situations (e.g., in a hotel for a business trip) where someone changes a lobby TV to FOX and then rivets to it. Clearly a codependent relationship.

  95. 95.

    jl

    April 22, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    @The Gray Adder: Some of the Fox blondes are hot, and OK to look at if the sound is turned down low enough. But then the tension between my attraction and what I can only imagine they must be saying gets too much, and I force myself to turn away. I guess that can be classified as a real first world problem.

    Places I’ve been in Northern California, whether it is Fox or CNN, the sound is turned down so low it is impossible to hear what they say, you just hear a murmur. And I am not hard of hearing, I can often understand whispers, low conversation and asides others cannot (an ability I carefully hide from my co-workers and family for obvious reasons).

    So, I figure the TV is kind a modern substitute for the fireplace and low murmur of natural sounds, or something.
    Or is that a Northern California thing?

    One nice thing about living San Francisco, is that it is rare to have some dumb TV screen bubbling away to no one in particular in repair shops, restaurants, etc. (Edit: except music videos and sports, which I see all over in eateries and watering holes here).

    Edit: and regarding Cole’s update: why don’t they put on the Weather Channel? No one seems to actually pay attention to Fox News or CNN, and when I ask that the channel be changed, the people are usually apologetic about showing garbage like Fox or CNN.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 4:36 pm

    @Karen in GA:
    The thing to remember about every Murdoch property: Task #1 is make money for Rupert Murdoch. If Ailes weren’t raking in dough at Fox News his doughy butt would have been booted decades ago, and they’d have tried Plan B.

  97. 97.

    JPL

    April 22, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    uh,oh… Weather channel talks about the effect of climate change on current weather patterns.
    John might be a socialist, fascist, whatever.

  98. 98.

    Germy Shoemangler

    April 22, 2015 at 4:39 pm

    I remember the documentary “Supersize Me” where the guy decided to eat nothing but Mickey Dees, and he scientifically charted the effects on his body.

    Is some brave soul willing to make the documentary “Roger Ailes Me” and watching nothing but fox news, and test the effect on blood pressure, brain cells etc?

  99. 99.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    @JPL:
    Ironically, Weather Channel’s former owner was a big-time climate denier, an affliction shared by a number of teevee forecasters. .

  100. 100.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 4:42 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:
    Love the title. I couldn’t do it because I’d end up with Buick payments.

  101. 101.

    ruemara

    April 22, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    This is me at my gym. We’re Silver Sneakers and Silver Fit certified with several senior citizen facilities near by, so some days I walk in to a row for Fauxpaganda blaring bullshit at the treadmills. Finally, I’ve just started comandeering remotes and setting things to MSNBC or HGTV. I’m already lifting weights and working out for 2 hours, why the fuck should I torture my mind?

  102. 102.

    JPL

    April 22, 2015 at 4:43 pm

    @trollhattan: I know. Maybe the fox folks don’t know that their views have
    changed and will continue watching.

  103. 103.

    Karen in GA

    April 22, 2015 at 4:45 pm

    @trollhattan: You think?

  104. 104.

    Germy Shoemangler

    April 22, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    @trollhattan: Roger A. must have a serious leg fetish, because the times I’ve seen it on in waiting rooms I’ve been amazed at the outrageousness of the legshow. I know the networks did it with Katie Couric and with Ginger Zee, but Fox takes it to a whole new level.

    I remember reading in Roger’s biography (the one he hated, not the one he commissioned) that he fired off an angry memo to an on-air lady after seeing her dressed modestly.

  105. 105.

    Steve in the ATL

    April 22, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    @grandpa john:

    My docs waiting room has TV but it is tuned to some medical channel that shows health related programming.

    You could probably cut down on your doctor visits by not eating Captain D’s….

  106. 106.

    JPL

    April 22, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: Roger understands his demographic, old white guys.

  107. 107.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 4:51 pm

    @Karen in GA:
    I truly do. Rupert sometimes slips and shows he’s not as radical as our present Republicans.

    Media mogul Rupert Murdoch has called on United States lawmakers to ban automatic weapons following the Connecticut school massacre, alluding to Australia’s response to the Port Arthur massacre.

    The News Corp chairman used the social media platform Twitter to express frustration at the easy availability of automatic and semi-automatic guns in his adopted country.

    “Terrible news today,” he tweeted. “When will politicians find courage to ban automatic weapons? As in Oz after similar tragedy.”

    A gunman on Friday shot dead 20 small children and six teachers in the small Connecticut town of Newtown, in one of the worst school shootings in history.

    Following the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, in which 35 people were killed, then prime minister John Howard imposed tough national gun laws.

    Military-style semi-automatic firearms were banned and a guns buyback program led to shooters surrendering more than 500,000 weapons.

    After the 2002 murders of two students at Monash University in Melbourne by a licensed shooter, tougher licensing procedures were imposed on many handguns.

    http://www.afr.com/news/world/murdoch-joins-gun-control-controversy-20121215-j1cdf

  108. 108.

    Redshift

    April 22, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    My local garage leaves the remote for the TV on a table in the waiting room. If nobody seems particularly interested in it, I’ll mute it, and people are usually grateful. Interestingly, though anyone can use the remote, I’ve never come in and found it to be tuned to Fox News.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    April 22, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    Last time had to have a tire replaced, the waiting room (very nice one, by the way) had a sign prominently displayed informing me that they had DISH TV and that there was a remote for the television in the drawer of the coffee table.

    Motor Vehicle department always seems to have some cooking program on, with volume off and closed-caption enabled.

  110. 110.

    Redshift

    April 22, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    @Cacti:

    She just spends her days sitting in her favorite chair and watching Fox News because it’s comforting to her.

    I wonder how much of it is just the repetition. When my mother-in-law’s memory started going, she would watch awful crime procedurals (that she’d never watched before.) It took me a while to figure out that it was because they repeated the basic facts of the crime over and over again, at least every ten minutes, and while I hated it when I had to be there because the fictional crimes were horribly unpleasant to hear about, it was the only thing on that she could keep up with and not feel constantly confused.

  111. 111.

    Nicole

    April 22, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    @Violet: I was on an Amtrak train last week and three twenty-somethings got on in Philly and, unfortunately, seated themselves across from us. One proceeded to play a loud video on her smartphone. My husband complained to the conductor, who made her turn off the volume. Her male traveling companion couldn’t understand why she had to, since “this is not the quiet car!” The conductor explained that they were not the only passengers on the car and it was impolite. I am not 100 percent sure they understood.

    To get back at my husband, the guy, after announcing he had been on an episode of Star Search proceeded to sing snippets of songs the rest of the ride. I can only hope for his sake, if he was indeed on Star Search, that the day they taped the episode he sang on key.

  112. 112.

    Karen in GA

    April 22, 2015 at 5:00 pm

    @trollhattan: Well, yeah. Of course he’s out for himself. I’m pretty sure very few propagandists (or professional right-wingers in general) believe their own bullshit — at least, not the older ones.

    The younger, dumber ones (Sarah Palin, anyone?), on the other hand — who know WTF goes on in their tiny little heads.

  113. 113.

    justsomeguy

    April 22, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    @Cacti: I agree – there is something about Fox that is very comforting and validating to people with dementia. I am always amused when people say that the Fox news audience is old & dying. There are more of those people being created every day. Just as there are new brainwashed Christianist fundamentalists being created daily.
    I have seen lifelong moderates & Democrats who simultaneously start manifesting dementia, watching Fox, & voting Republican.

  114. 114.

    Redshift

    April 22, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    @JPL: I worry that they’re getting to my dad. I thought he was safe because he’s never watched much TV, but I think that since Murdoch bought the Wall Street Journal, they may be getting him through that vector. It’s not very often so far, but there was one outburst about Democrats at a family dinner that has me worried.

  115. 115.

    Roger Moore

    April 22, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    “American Liberalism Must Be Destroyed: Insights from Professor Alexander Dugin, Kremlin Insider and Informal Adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.”

    Golly, gee. If we can’t trust Vladimir Putin about what’s best for our system of government, who can we trust?

  116. 116.

    JPL

    April 22, 2015 at 5:08 pm

    @Redshift: A close friend went to the dark side.
    Since the Koch brothers are willing to buy elections, I’m not sure what you do.

  117. 117.

    boatboy_srq

    April 22, 2015 at 5:09 pm

    @Nicole: There’s a measurable segment of the population that translates “it’s a free country” as “I can be rude as fvck and you can’t do sh!t about it.”

  118. 118.

    Amir Khalid

    April 22, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    @boatboy_srq:
    This is true everywhere on Earth.

  119. 119.

    Mike G

    April 22, 2015 at 5:13 pm

    The TV at my college campus gym was on Fox for a brief while, then CNN for a long stretch, now it’s tuned to Al Jazeera America. It’s mostly students who are watching stuff on their smartphones anyway, but we’re a liberal-ish area and on staff have a lower proportion of wingnuts than the general population.

  120. 120.

    Chris

    April 22, 2015 at 5:17 pm

    @boatboy_srq:

    That’s a measurable segment of the population that needs to go fuck itself.

  121. 121.

    Ruviana

    April 22, 2015 at 5:17 pm

    @FlipYrWhig: My vet does that and I’ve complained but the owner’s wife loves it. Animal Planet always has nasty stuff on. I call it “Animal Death Planet.” It does have the Puppy Bowl but my vet is closed on the weekends.

  122. 122.

    jl

    April 22, 2015 at 5:20 pm

    This will make for some fun TV. I’m sure everyone will want to tune in for the announcement spctacuboozleganza.
    Can the production values match the Paul, Cruz and Rubio Events?
    Wonder why the long wait between the pre-announcement and the actual real announcement announcement.
    Maybe there will be Fiorina Candidacy Advent Calendars?

    Report: Carly Fiorina Will Announce Presidential Campaign On May 4
    http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/carly-fiorina-campaign-president-may-4

  123. 123.

    gene108

    April 22, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Rupert sometimes slips and shows he’s not as radical as our present Republicans

    Or the fact he’s not a natural born and raised, red-blooded American, but as an Australian he sees the world with a very upside down point of view.

  124. 124.

    Mike J

    April 22, 2015 at 5:24 pm

    @jl: She’ll do to America what she did to HP!

    She can’t even make brown sauce.

  125. 125.

    Kyle

    April 22, 2015 at 5:26 pm

    @justsomeguy:

    I have seen lifelong moderates & Democrats who simultaneously start manifesting dementia, watching Fox, & voting Republican.

    I have some relatives going through this. Like to drop snide remarks about Fox talking points, birth certificates and Benghazi. His wife has hardcore freakouts about Obamacare, claims the last time she went to the hospital the staff were talking about having to setup death panels.

    Last time he started on one of his rants I asked in a calm and serious tone of voice, “Do you still think Obama was born in Kenya? You were very sure about this a few years ago,” and he shut right up.

    When someone is on an angry rant, I find the best thing to do is calmly reflect their bullshit back at them and sometimes they’ll realize how stupid they sound.

  126. 126.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    April 22, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    @jl: DEMON SHEEP!

  127. 127.

    Amir Khalid

    April 22, 2015 at 5:31 pm

    @Mike J:
    Once in a while, we tech journos would ask the Hewlett-Packard Malaysia people if they got a staff discount on HP sauce. Somehow, they always knew we were kidding.

  128. 128.

    Tokyokie

    April 22, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    I used to have a Mini, and I once read that of all cars, Mini ownership was most predictive of its owner’s political leaning, namely, liberal Democrat. I mention this because the local Mini dealership (which failed to advise me of a service advisory concerning the very part that failed, leading to catastrophic engine damage) would invariably have Fox News playing in its waiting area.

    For some reason, those bastards still send me e-mails, even though I’ve replied frequently in an abusive fashion.

  129. 129.

    Roger Moore

    April 22, 2015 at 5:33 pm

    @jl:

    Report: Carly Fiorina Will Announce Presidential Campaign On May 4

    I hope she kept the media people who developed the Demon Sheep ad. This election desperately needs some comic relief.

  130. 130.

    Amir Khalid

    April 22, 2015 at 5:34 pm

    @Mike J:
    Anytime Carly Fiorina touts her HP work experience, I’d expect someone to point out: “But you got the sack at HP, didn’t you?”

  131. 131.

    catclub

    April 22, 2015 at 5:38 pm

    @Mike J: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish… and he will eradicate all the fish.

  132. 132.

    schrodinger's cat

    April 22, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    @Roger Moore: She is unrecognizable with her recent cosmetic surgery.

  133. 133.

    D58826

    April 22, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    From kos

    The Koch brothers’ takeover of the Republican Party is very nearly complete, and if they have their way, it will be by the end of 2016. They’ve anointed the five presidential candidates that are their finalists and they’ve got their plan in place for getting one of them elected, along with a Republican Senate. Politico got the documents and the interviews with the people who know.
    The documents detail plans to beef up the network’s state-of-the-art data system, and pay hundreds of staff embedded in local communities across the country in preparation for get-out-the-vote efforts that are unprecedented from a third-party group.
    The plan comes with a $125 million 2015 budget for Americans for Prosperity, the most robust arm in the network of small-government advocacy groups helmed by the billionaire industrialist brothers Charles and David Koch. That’s the most the group has ever spent in a non-election year and the documents call the plan “beyond the biggest, boldest, broadest effort AFP has ever undertaken.” It calls for the creation of new chapters in Alabama, Idaho, North Dakota and Utah—continuing a move by the group to invest in deep red states where it can focus on pushing aggressive reforms to scale back union power and government regulation, rather than winning or protecting GOP majorities

    After they own the government will they pay its bills? (snark).

  134. 134.

    Denali

    April 22, 2015 at 5:43 pm

    I have wondered about the presence of screens everywhere in public – restaurants, banks, paint stores, practically everywhere. The ones in waiting rooms and gyms are particularly annoying because the default channel is almost always Fox. Who makes this choice? Have advertisers peruaded doctors and car dealers to set the channel on Fox to put their products in the public view? There must be an explanation, I do not like having to be the one that objects, but there does not seem to be an option.

  135. 135.

    LanceThruster

    April 22, 2015 at 5:44 pm

    “Man Runs All Out Of Bubble Gum”

  136. 136.

    srv

    April 22, 2015 at 5:48 pm

    How much of America can Obama fit under that bus?

    A full-fledged Democratic trade war has broken out.

    “I love Elizabeth. We’re allies on a whole host of issues, but she’s wrong on this,” President Obama said Tuesday night in an interview on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, referring to liberal Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

    Warren and the progressive left, scarred by trade deals past like the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, have launched a vocal fight against granting the president so-called “fast-track” authority to negotiate a 12-country Pacific trade deal.

    “Are you ready to fight?” Warren said at a rally April 15 with labor leaders and Vermont liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders standing beside her. “No more secret deals. No more special deals for multi-national corporations. Are you ready to fight? Are you ready to fight any more deals that say we’re going to help the rich get richer and leave everyone else behind? Are you ready to fight that?”

    Senate Democrats’ point man, Harry Reid – normally a staunch Obama ally — has joined the “Hell no” caucus on trade.

    “I have never, ever … supported a trade agreement, and I’m not going to start now,” Reid said Tuesday. “So the answer is not only no, but hell no.”

    Obama says progressives have it all wrong. He said “understandably” that some in labor and on the left would be “suspicious” because of past problems with NAFTA.

  137. 137.

    shortstop

    April 22, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    @Amir Khalid: Not just the sack, but she’s made every “worst American CEOs of all time” list.

    It takes a very special person to be globally humiliated in business and then decide she should be president of the United States of America based on her business record. A person who a) is convinced that all her detractors are wrong, malicious or “jealous,” and b) thinks that wanting something very much is the same as being able to have it.

  138. 138.

    Chris

    April 22, 2015 at 5:51 pm

    FYWP.

    @D58826:

    Is whether or not Scott Walker wins the next primary a good indicator of whether or not the Kochs have completely taken over the party? It was my impression that, whatever they say in public, he’s pretty much their guy.

    (Please note, the fact that the party isn’t 100% owned by the Kochs doesn’t mean it’s not 100% owned by people just like them).

  139. 139.

    MomSense

    April 22, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    Last night I watched the Matthews interview with President Obama on the trade deal with my kids. Today we saw the clips on the news (mostly MSNBC) and articles at various news aggregator sites and they all framed the interview as conflict over trade deal between Democrats or Obama vs. Warren kinds of BS. My 11 year old commented that all the outlets highlighted the part where Obama said that Warren was wrong but none of them showed the clips of the President discussing the substance of the trade deal.

    We talked about why the news outlets might push the conflict aspect over the substance and he thought they guessed they would make more money or get more interest from the idea that there is a fight between two popular people.

    It really is like the worst parts of high school with “journalists” serving as those annoying gossips at lunch who seem to actually care about some fight between cheerleaders after 3rd period.

  140. 140.

    Brachiator

    April 22, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    @Denali:

    I have wondered about the presence of screens everywhere in public – restaurants, banks, paint stores, practically everywhere.

    Big screens are cheap and lightweight. And some people seem to crave distraction. How many people are glued to a tablet or smartphone while they wait or sit around in public?

    A few years ago, a lot of shops, auto mechanics and other places always had the radio on and often tuned to Rush Limbaugh. Thankfully, that trend has finally waned, for the most part.

  141. 141.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 5:55 pm

    @shortstop:
    Like Meg Whitman at the time, grifters got hold of Fiorina to coax her to run and fatten their wallets. Who’s doing it this go? The woman has all the personality of an exhausted cyan ink cartridge. The light cyan.

  142. 142.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 5:56 pm

    Rand Paul’s son has another run in with the law while drunk.

  143. 143.

    D58826

    April 22, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    @shortstop: Well I guess the only difference between Carly and W is the ‘global’ portion of being a failure at business and then running for president. Of course the one thing that W excelled at was failing and he certain proved THAT on the world stage.

  144. 144.

    srv

    April 22, 2015 at 5:59 pm

    How do people do it? This is how a Real Leader does it:

    Fifty-seven employees of the state Department of Natural Resources began receiving formal notices this week that they might face layoff as part of Gov. Scott Walker’s budget for the next two fiscal years.

    DNR spokesman Bill Cosh said that of that number, 27 employees are in the Bureau of Science Services, a unit of the DNR where Walker is proposing significant cuts.
    …
    In an email, a DNR employee who received the notice circulated her concerns to others in an email asking to “do what I dare not” and contact members of the Legislature’s Joint Finance Committee, which took up other DNR funding on Wednesday.

    “Never mind that I, like most others targeted, are federally funded or funded from (a segregated account) and not general purpose revenue,” the employee said. “Thus, this measure will have no effect on the state budget.”

  145. 145.

    JPL

    April 22, 2015 at 6:06 pm

    @ranchandsyrup: whoops.. Although I would not drive, if I were related to Rand Paul, I’d drink.

  146. 146.

    Bill Arnold

    April 22, 2015 at 6:06 pm

    @kindness:

    I question businesses that have Fox playing on their waiting room tubes.

    I question the professional judgment of the owner of a place that plays Fox on their waiting room TVs.

  147. 147.

    Baud

    April 22, 2015 at 6:08 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Inconceivable!

  148. 148.

    Howard Beale IV

    April 22, 2015 at 6:10 pm

    @Arm The Homeless: A lot of Samsung phones have that as well.

  149. 149.

    Turgidson

    April 22, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    @Poopyman:

    I was gonna say, “wishing [Fox News] on your enemies” in this case is basically akin to the Simpsons gag where the devil decides to torture Homer by making him eat donuts forever. He runs out of donuts before Homer is finished. Similarly, wingnuts and braindead dolts would be thrilled to be exposed to Fox News nonstop.

  150. 150.

    MomSense

    April 22, 2015 at 6:11 pm

    @bemused:

    I was shocked that there are still soap operas on daytime tv. I really thought they had died long ago.

    Not only are the shows still alive, but some of the characters who died when I was in grade school are somehow alive and regular characters again.

  151. 151.

    Howard Beale IV

    April 22, 2015 at 6:12 pm

    @Karen in GA: You do know that Sky News is just another version of the Murdoch empire?

  152. 152.

    srv

    April 22, 2015 at 6:15 pm

    In Kansas, they don’t close schools, they close districts!

    Six school districts in Kansas will close early this year, following budget cuts signed in March by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.

    Two school districts, Concordia Unified School District and Twin Valley Unified School District, announced earlier this month that they would end the year early because they lacked the funds to keep the schools open. This week, four more districts confirmed they would also shorten their calendars, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal.

  153. 153.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 6:16 pm

    @efgoldman: I blame billy carter for Billy Beer though.

  154. 154.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    April 22, 2015 at 6:18 pm

    Primary colors and pretty people, just like your favorite kids show back in the day. That’s all it is. A pacifier for those not quite bad off enough to be in a nursing home.

  155. 155.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    April 22, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    As much as I detest Aqua Buddah, I wouldn’t blame him for a relative’s actions, no more than I blamed Billy Carter on Jimmy or Roger Clinton on Bill.

    @efgoldman: Shit, if that’s an acceptable thing now, my little brother is going to be PISSED OFF.

  156. 156.

    srv

    April 22, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    That poor kid – unable to hide his bloodshot eyes because the Paul’s are even to shady for Ray Ban

    Ray-Ban has asked Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign to quit selling the brand’s Wayfarer sunglasses, which Paul had imprinted with the “Rand” logo.

    The Rand-Ban sunglasses were for sale for $150 on Paul’s website as recently as Tuesday. The website described the product as “the intersection of politics and cool.”

  157. 157.

    ranchandsyrup

    April 22, 2015 at 6:20 pm

    @efgoldman: my brother and I did our dad a favor and drank his Billy Beer in the late 80’s or so and we both got very sick.

  158. 158.

    Brachiator

    April 22, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    @efgoldman:

    As much as I detest Aqua Buddah, I wouldn’t blame him for a relative’s actions, no more than I blamed Billy Carter on Jimmy or Roger Clinton on Bill.

    I agree.

    One thing, though …

    Police say that Paul smelled of alcohol and had “bloodshot, watery eyes.” The citation also said that William Paul was behaving in a “belligerent” manner and had slurred speech….

    Paul has had previous run-ins with the law. The eldest son of presidential candidate Rand Paul had been cited for possession of alcohol as a minor at a race at Keeneland in 2013. In January of the same year, Paul was charged with simple assault of a flight attendant at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. He was also charged with being intoxicated and disruptive conduct after his flight landed.

    Those charges were dropped after a diversion program was completed.

    The kid doesn’t know how lucky he is. Belligerence and being disruptive while intoxicated is a death sentence for some in this country.

  159. 159.

    bemused

    April 22, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    @MomSense:

    Now that’s hilarious.

  160. 160.

    Mike E

    April 22, 2015 at 6:38 pm

    Per ESPN: Judge OKs 65-year deal over NFL concussions; could cost $1 billion

  161. 161.

    Karen in GA

    April 22, 2015 at 6:38 pm

    @Howard Beale IV: I had no idea! Except for the part where someone else already mentioned it upthread and I already responded.

  162. 162.

    Southern Beale

    April 22, 2015 at 6:41 pm

    Asked them to change it to the Weather Channel, and as it was happening, I heard an audible “Thank God” from another customer.

    YES. I cannot TELL you how many times I’ve screwed up my courage to ask the same thing, only to have three or four other people in the room thank me. Most people just won’t bother.

    I remember once being in the OB/GYN’s office and the damn 700 Club was on TV (local NBC affiliate). I just couldn’t handle hearing Pat Robertson and having a speculum rammed up my wing-wang in the same morning. I asked the office staff to change the channel and the entire room applauded. I kid you not.

  163. 163.

    Mandalay

    April 22, 2015 at 6:43 pm

    @efgoldman:

    As much as I detest Aqua Buddah, I wouldn’t blame him for a relative’s actions

    I’m with you up to a point, but what about Jeb Bush? His wife and three kids have all had run-ins with the law.

    The entire family seems to be dysfunctional.

  164. 164.

    Turgidson

    April 22, 2015 at 6:44 pm

    @jl:

    Report: Carly Fiorina Will Announce Presidential Campaign On May 4

    And a stunned nation will mourn.

  165. 165.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 6:48 pm

    @Brachiator: As a parent, Rand Paul should decide to stick closer to home. It’s not his brother or cousin, it’s his son.

    And might be better, in the long run, to keep this not ready for prime time young’un off public display while he gets his act together.

    I see people wondering about Rand Paul putting his vanity above concern for his son if he persists.

    A kid’s continuing problems with alcohol is nothing to laugh off. Gives the unelectable Senator Dr. Paul a good excuse to back down.

  166. 166.

    Provider_UNE_AndPlayersToBeHatedLater™

    April 22, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    @Southern Beale: awesome!

  167. 167.

    Mike J

    April 22, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    @Mike E: That sounds incredibly cheap.

  168. 168.

    les

    April 22, 2015 at 6:50 pm

    @jl:
    If you must be pedantic, try to be thorough:

    I hear Bill O’Reilly, or that blonde woman from the morning speaks.

    Imagine a comma…

  169. 169.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    April 22, 2015 at 6:52 pm

    @Turgidson: with her history? It will end like this:

    Report: Carly Fiorina Folds Presidential Campaign On May 11, says “Best Campaign Ever!”, collects 46 trillion dollars as severance pay, GOP declares bankruptcy after all remaining candidates commit suicide.

  170. 170.

    Roger Moore

    April 22, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    @efgoldman:

    As much as I detest Aqua Buddah, I wouldn’t blame him for a relative’s actions, no more than I blamed Billy Carter on Jimmy or Roger Clinton on Bill.

    I think children are more of a reflection of their parents than other relations. For example, I think the behavior of the younger members of the Bush clan reflects very badly on GHW. I might accept that one worthless criminal son was a bad seed, but three seems like an indication of bad parenting. And misbehavior by a minor child- and some of William Paul’s misbehavior apparently happened when he was a minor- is also something to watch for.

  171. 171.

    Brachiator

    April 22, 2015 at 6:53 pm

    @Elizabelle: I think the son is a college student. His parents can’t watch him all the time. I don’t know what they are doing to try to help him, though.

  172. 172.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    @Southern Beale: I don’t know who turns on Fox. Maybe one person who was there for fifteen minutes, and then goes elsewhere. And other people suffer through until a bright person, such as yourself, steps forward.

    RE dementia patients and Fox: My late mom had some dementia and loved to watch MSNBC daytime for hours on end. I think she was feeding off the emotion and controversy and even ugliness presented. But I think the repetitiveness helped her, and she did stay up to date on current events once she was no longer reading.

  173. 173.

    Chris

    April 22, 2015 at 6:55 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I would not drive, if I were related to Rand Paul, I’d drink.
    …
    As much as I detest Aqua Buddah, I wouldn’t blame him for a relative’s actions

    LMAO, I must agree! I have relatives who might as well be Ron or Rand Paul, and if I took a shot every time one of them said, posted, tweeted or did something embarrassing, I’d be fucking dead.

  174. 174.

    Mike E

    April 22, 2015 at 6:56 pm

    @Mike J: Yep. So cheap, in fact, that some 200 players and families will not settle and bring their suits against the NFL to court.

  175. 175.

    Turgidson

    April 22, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Maybe ol’ filibustrin Rand will use his own son as an example of the inequities in our criminal justice system.

    Naaaah.

  176. 176.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 6:57 pm

    @Brachiator: Not putting him under a national spotlight would be a humane way to parent. It’s enough to have a prominent parent who’s in the news.

    I felt for the Palin kids, although the older ones turned out to be craven too. I wonder how little Willow (?) will turn out. She must know a lot of people think her mom is an idiot. How could you not notice that?

  177. 177.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 6:58 pm

    @Roger Moore:
    Agreed. it’s not nothing, especially if there’s a shared pattern (in this case, contempt for the laws they wish to ignore–how very Libertarian). Hopefully, little grandson Liberty will grow out of his family’s awful legacy. Am likewise willing to credit the parents to some extent when they turn out to be great people.

  178. 178.

    J R in WV

    April 22, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @Kyle:

    Well done!! Keep up the good work.

    Obama is obviously a Kenyan terrorist, look at how many successful foreign terrorist attacks there have been in America since his election. Well, how many…. 0 ! zero… wait… How can this be?

    More people were killed in America by terrorists in George Walker Bush’s administration than any other president, ever! More diplomats assigned to overseas facilities were killed by terrorists during Bush’s administration (80) than in Obama’s administration (4).

  179. 179.

    Turgidson

    April 22, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @CONGRATULATIONS!:

    Sounds about right. She appears to only be running so that the GOP has at least one candidate with no Y chromosome who can attack Hillary without fear of being called a misogynist piece of shit. I wonder if she knows that….

  180. 180.

    trollhattan

    April 22, 2015 at 7:00 pm

    @Mike E:
    A billion won’t even be a downpayment on a single NFL franchise, and there are thirty-two of those at the moment. “Cheap” is about right.

  181. 181.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 7:02 pm

    @J R in WV: Hey dude, that don’t fit the narrative, do it?

    Don’t go getting all factual on us and everything.

    I have it on reliable Tea Party billboard sources that Benghazi killed more people than Watergate. That is the barrel these particular central Virginia TP patriots are scraping.

  182. 182.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 22, 2015 at 7:03 pm

    @Violet:

    Maybe someone else has answered you by now — I haven’t scrolled through the entire thread — but you might try checking the Media Matters (Media Matters for America) web site. Last I checked, which admittedly has been a while, they had a research section. You might find some useful stats and facts and charts and stuff over there.

  183. 183.

    J R in WV

    April 22, 2015 at 7:04 pm

    @shortstop:

    Carly …

    b) thinks that wanting something very much is the same as being able deserving to have it.

    FTFY

  184. 184.

    Steve

    April 22, 2015 at 7:07 pm

    I love Fox News.

  185. 185.

    Chris

    April 22, 2015 at 7:10 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    I have it on reliable Tea Party billboard sources that Benghazi killed more people than Watergate.

    The really surreal thing is when they say “killed more people than Iran-contra.”

  186. 186.

    the Conster

    April 22, 2015 at 7:15 pm

    @bemused:

    The soap that plays on the TV in the locker room at the gym I go to has a gay married couple – one of them cheated on the other with a professional baseball player. SSM is the best thing that ever happened to soaps – it opens up a million other ways to lie and cheat.

  187. 187.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 22, 2015 at 7:17 pm

    @raven:

    Damn, 5 Georgia Southern students killed in a crash on I-16.

    Five young women, all juniors in the nursing program. What a tragedy.

  188. 188.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 7:20 pm

    @Elizabelle: It’s not Willow you’re thinking of, it’s Piper Palin, the youngest daughter. Willow is the middle daughter. She’s an adult now and is a hair stylist.

  189. 189.

    low-tech cyclist

    April 22, 2015 at 7:28 pm

    Asked them to change it to the Weather Channel, and as it was happening, I heard an audible “Thank God” from another customer.

    I’m imagining this guy as being sorta like one of Ted Striker’s seatmates in Airplane! Just as he’s about to commit suicide rather than listen to Fox News for one more minute, Cole gets the channel changed, and he breathes a sigh of relief.

  190. 190.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 22, 2015 at 7:29 pm

    @ranchandsyrup:

    He sounds like a sweetie. From your linked article:

    The vehicle Paul was in was not his and there was no insurance on the vehicle. William was by himself in the car, and no one was in the parked car that he allegedly struck.

    Paul was taken to the hospital with lacerations to his face. He refused a breathalyzer and blood test. At the hospital, Paul was cited for operating a motor vehicle under the influence and failure to maintain insurance.

    Paul has had previous run-ins with the law. The eldest son of presidential candidate Rand Paul had been cited for possession of alcohol as a minor at a race at Keeneland in 2013. In January of the same year, Paul was charged with simple assault of a flight attendant at Charlotte Douglas International Airport. He was also charged with being intoxicated and disruptive conduct after his flight landed.

  191. 191.

    Elizabelle

    April 22, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @Violet: Piper it is.

    She was so young, and the whole thing was probably equal parts thrilling and appalling and deeply troubling for Miss Piper.

  192. 192.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. Appreciate the tip.

  193. 193.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 22, 2015 at 7:30 pm

    @efgoldman:

    A little difference between a sibling and an offspring.

  194. 194.

    Roger Moore

    April 22, 2015 at 7:31 pm

    @J R in WV:

    More diplomats assigned to overseas facilities were killed by terrorists during Bush’s administration (80) than in Obama’s administration (4).

    You need to check the facts here. The 80 people killed during the Bush administration were not by any means all American diplomats. Most of them were from the host countries, either civilians or security forces helping to secure our diplomatic facilities. If you want to compare that number to the number killed under Obama, you have to include several attacks other than the one in Benghazi that didn’t kill any Americans but did kill people from the host country.

  195. 195.

    low-tech cyclist

    April 22, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    @Southern Beale: A couple of years ago (no wait, it was only last year; it just seems like it had to be longer ago), when my mother was in the hospital, my sisters and I were the only people in the waiting room. The TV was going, and not finding any on/off buttons on the TV itself, I unplugged it from the wall.

    After awhile, some other people came in. Nobody seemed to notice that there was anything missing, let alone care.

    In five or ten years (if it takes even that long), practically everyone will have a tablet or smartphone with them in situations like this. Hopefully the hospitals, doctor’s offices, car repair shops, etc. will dispense with their TVs at that point, and let everyone tune into their own gizmos in peace.

  196. 196.

    Violet

    April 22, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    @Elizabelle: That whole family is a trainwreck. I feel sorry for all the kids involved, especially Trig, the youngest son, the one with Down Syndrome. Sarah used him as a prop during the campaign and following book tour. She seems to ignore him these days, except when she can use him as a prop again. Recently he got exposure when he stood him his supposed service dog and used the poor thing as a stool. Sarah took the picture and posted it boasting of his ingenuity rather than helping out the poor dog.

  197. 197.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 22, 2015 at 7:37 pm

    @MomSense:

    Not only are the shows still alive, but some of the characters who died when I was in grade school are somehow alive and regular characters again.

    It’s been years since I watched a soap opera, but 40-odd years ago I planned my university classes around Another World. One thing that always tickled me was that someone could remain pregnant for two years, then have the baby, and within four or five months the kid would be going off to school; while someone else could get pregnant, pop out the child in a matter of a few weeks, but years later it would still be a squalling infant. Watching the way time stretched and rebounded to suit the writers’ whims was like being a character in an early SF story, except stoned all the time.

  198. 198.

    FarmerG

    April 22, 2015 at 7:38 pm

    @Elizabelle:

    Hard to read a good book (or even a blog) with Fox blaring in the background.

  199. 199.

    SiubhanDuinne

    April 22, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I was in Plains, GA this past weekend. Don’t try telling that to the owners of the local emporia.

  200. 200.

    MomSense

    April 22, 2015 at 7:50 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    HA! So true. Woman is pregnant for two years, gives birth, two weeks later kid is 17 and embroiled in a love triangle. As soon as s/he finally chooses her/his mate finds out that s/he is the son/daughter of the of the real father. Then you get the emotional confrontation when the kid realizes that mom has kept this secret all these years (weeks for the viewers).

  201. 201.

    shortstop

    April 22, 2015 at 7:53 pm

    @trollhattan: It interests me because the sense of entitlement and of standing outside the rules seems to be very much an acorn-tree thing. Watching Rand Paul ever since he started running for the Senate, I’m always struck by how protected he’s been in his warm cocoon of family insulation, where no one has ever made him work hard for anything or listen politely to anybody who didn’t already share the cult’s values. It so clearly pisses him off daily to have to put up with these insolent questions from his perceived lessers.

  202. 202.

    shortstop

    April 22, 2015 at 7:56 pm

    @J R in WV: Yes, sure, but what I said too. When you’re really used to getting what you want regardless of whether you’ve earned it, and you think politics is the logical next step on your resume (never starting below the rank of senator), it’s really hard to imagine that you might not get the shiny toy this time.

    This is what makes Romney heads explode every time they relive the 2012 election. I do hope that happens nightly. ;)

  203. 203.

    Jeffro

    April 22, 2015 at 8:33 pm

    @Southern Beale: As much as I’d enjoy any disagreement by asking for the channel to be changed to MSNBC…or Al Jazeera, if I was feeling particularly feisty…asking for the Weather Channel is a stroke of genius. Who could argue with needing to know the weather?

    And in any case, watching fellow waiting room folks start to tic as they feel the pangs of withdrawal from such a steady source of hate is a major bonus no matter what replaces Fox on the teevee…

  204. 204.

    kd bart

    April 22, 2015 at 9:25 pm

    The place I go for car repairs usually has Me TV playing. I love watching sitcoms I haven’t seen in years

  205. 205.

    Birthmarker

    April 22, 2015 at 10:43 pm

    I suggest in the future we ask to have the waiting room TVs turned off. Let’s start a revolution! Really, they just suck all life out of the room. I prefer to read when waiting.

  206. 206.

    GregB

    April 23, 2015 at 12:10 am

    I’ll see your Preston Wigginton and raise you a Craven Laycock.

  207. 207.

    slag

    April 23, 2015 at 1:02 am

    Totally feel this pain. The last time I watched any “news” show was CNN in a dr.’s office waiting room over a year ago. It brought up all the old grievances.

    The worst is always when they have a subject for which they could talk to somebody who actually knows something and instead they bring on some idiot senator. Assholes.

  208. 208.

    dianne

    April 23, 2015 at 4:55 am

    The last time I went into a restaurant and saw Fox on, I told the manager “Sheesh, I can’t eat with that garbage playing” and walked out. Haven’t been back. Mostly it’s sports or info type shows here. We were seated next to a couple of men saying things about “those people” recently and since they couldn’t be muted we asked to be moved to another part of the dining room. The waiter was very gracious and understanding. As I’ve aged, I have become less patient with fools.

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