Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Background Noise or News?

To my housemates, the incessant background hum of CNN is a source of annoyance. Bi-weekly one of them will query, "Why do you keep on CNN all day? Isn't it a downer..." with an effect akin to the whine of a mosquito in the dead of night.

As a courtesy I turn off the telly or mute the sound when one of my co-inhabitants enters the room ... and in deference to all sentient beings within a 300 foot radiance, the volume is kept at miniscule decibels most of the time.

I myself couldn't understand this addiction to the near-ubiquitous CNN drone that began during primaries 18 months ago, but then came an epiphany. The study of human behaviour involves analysis of cause and effect. Big events have big impact, yet subtle and seemingly insignificant happenings inevitably trigger a landslide of outcomes. Thus, in order to predict future behaviours, an exhaustive study of past and present actions is imperative.

Right out of the gate, it seemed glaringly obvious that Donald Trump was a pathological liar and a card carrying narcissist with borderline personality disorder. Why people of sound mind chose to ignore the obvious is a mystery but provides a clue to my CNN habit.

Every day, even each hour, a new clue to 45's horrific modus operendus unfolds. To catch all the nuances, one must keep tuned in to track how events/words/tweets play a role in the collective wakeup.

Like a suspense novel, every new twist unfolds the plot. So now the question is, will this story have a happy ending or a tragic one? More accurately speaking, will the universe bend to the arc of truth in my lifetime? In my childrens? Or sometime in the ineffable future?

2 comments:

  1. I tend to leave Sky News, or CNN less, but too much. My analysis is that it is comfort, in the absence of a live-in partner or pet.
    On the other hand I am allergic to the name or sight of the Orange man, who I hate with all my being. This is my cue for turning off the idiot box. BREXIT brings me out in blisters, to the point where I am applying for French nationality to become a cheese-eating surrender monkey.
    TV in France, perhaps worldwide is a dinosaur, wherein I am obliged to pay for a bouquet of dead stuff, other than Sky, BBC World, CNN, Netflix and a couple of serious French channels. If I want to watch Sundance, Wimbledon, Classical or Jazz channels... I have to pay 29.99€ per month extra, for EACH. So I don't.
    This is why I'm sitting in front of my big screen computer with Bose speakers, where I can tune into pretty well everything I want at no extra cost, as well as write this reply.
    Following hip surgery I am still, temporarily mobility-reduced, thus with an even greater computer dependance. My Mac has been sulking for 30 hours, which has made me realise that it bloody owns me, lock, stock and 2 smoking barrels.

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