Cancelling Cable TV

I know I'm new to the game on this, but I just did the math today.

My cable TV via Comcast is $126.00 a month.

Here is the breakdown of what I'm getting for that:

Standard Cable, Digital Preferred Channels(?), Music Choice (never use), Interactive Program Guide, Digital Receiver, Remote and On Demand Access = $73.97 a month.

All of the above is low-def shit that I never watch. Why? Because I pay an additional $15.95 for HD/DVR Service which basically duplicates most of the shit I get in low-def but in HD. So I'm paying for channels twice.

Then there is an $8.00 a month "HD Technology Fee". What. The. Fuck. I'm already paying for the Digital Receiver. I'm already paying for the HD Service. What the Hell is this? Sounds a lot like one of those "just because we can" fees. Fuck you.

Then there is the $16.99 for HBO which is the ONLY premium channel I get! But "Big Love" is over and I can get Bill Maher, I'm sure, online somewhere, so I don't really need HBO any more.

They charged me $4.99 for "Machete" On Demand and $5.99 for "Unstoppable" On Demand. Both of which were impulse purchases that I wouldn't have incurred if I didn't have access to Comcast On Demand! So fuck that!

SUMMARY: They are double charging me for the same basic cable channels, once in LD and again in HD, I only get 1 premium channel that I no longer need, and they charge me excessive DVD rental fees for shit I could get for free if I just waited a week.

Now, I already get streaming Netflix and Hulu Plus over my HD PS3 (which is also a Blu Ray DVD player).

My Comcast Internet connection which makes this possible is only $43.00 a month.

I could add a Boxee Box which ALSO provides streaming Netflix plus YouTube, Pandora, Facebook, Flikr, and any internet media format accessible including anything available on your home wireless network (porn...in HD...on 48" Toshiba HD/DLP screen). The Boxee Box is a one time purchase of $199.00 which would run on my existing $43.00 a month Internet Connection.

So, it looks like I can get everything I am getting today, and WAY MORE (HD porn), for an initial investment of $199.00 for which I could save $126.00 a month forever.

The only thing I would loose is being able to watch local news channels in real time.

I have a weather radio. I'm thinking this is a no brainer.

Shoal Creek Museum, Watkin's Woolen Mill

I took 111 pictures today. Here are a few samples I have time to post.

T-Mobile Customers Are About To Be Ass Fucked. No Lube. No Reach Around.

In case you haven't heard, T-Mobile is about to be purchased by THE ABSOLUTE WORST MOBILE PROVIDER ON THE PLANET...AT&T.

Voice your disapproval for this degradation by following @keepawayatt on Twitter and using the hashtag #keepawayatt.

We may not be able to stop the purchase, but lets at least let AT&T how much we think their service SUCKS ASS!

All My Dreams Have Come True. My Life Is Complete.

Way back in June, 2007 I published a "side by side comparison" between the original Star Trek Communicator and the "modern" (2007) cell phone.



The flip phone won hands down and that was 4 years ago, before Smart Phones and Android.


But now, in the Age of Convergence, all of my dreams have come true.

Talkndog.com has made my life complete.








I have been wet dreaming about this day since 1966!

Nuclear Energy Isn't Dangerous. Corporate Greed Is.

In the wake of the horrific disasters in Japan, there has been a lot of anti-nuclear hysteria going on.

The general consensus seems to be that we mere, puny humans are no match for Mother Nature and there is no way we could build something inherently "dangerous" as a nuclear power plant that could possibly survive something as powerful as an earthquake.

Well, that's bullshit.

After 7 million years of evolution, we are Homo Fucking Sapiens and we can do whatever the Hell we want to do!

It's not an engineering problem. It's a profitability problem.

"Since its inception in 1948, the U.S. Navy nuclear program has developed 27 different plant designs, installed them in 210 nuclear powered ships, taken 500 reactor cores into operation, and accumulated over 5,400 reactor years of operation and 128,000,000 miles safely steamed. Additionally, 98 nuclear submarines and six nuclear cruisers have been recycled. The U.S. Navy has never experienced a reactor accident."

How can that possibly be when "we all know" that nuclear power is SO DANGEROUS?!?!

Simple.

The Department of the Navy dosen't build nuclear reactors as cheaply as possible so that they can make a profit by charging naval vessels for the power they use!

The Department of the Navy builds nuclear reactors to be safe and reliable in peace or war. Our Navy is self sufficient. Our Navy doesn't have to rely on the good will of foreign countries to refuel our warships. They can remain at sea for YEARS.

The latest generation of Navy nuclear cores can power a ship for 40-50 years before needing to be replaced.

A modern air craft carrier can carry as many as 8 nuclear power plants.

The Navy knows how to GET SHIT DONE!

So here is the XO Plan For Energy Independence:

Replace every coal fired power plant with clusters of U.S.N. Nuclear Power Plants operated by the Navy.

That's it.

How do we pay for it?

* Get the fuck out of Afghanistan and Iraq (where we never should have been)
* Eliminate Corporate Welfare and Farm Subsidies (Free Market, baby!)
* Legalize marijuana and tax the fuck out of it (Huh? Wha? DOOD!)
* Eliminate the Tax Exemption for "churches" (They provide services and own property in exchange for collecting fees...they are a fucking business...TAX 'EM!)

With the savings from the above changes and the reinvestment of those funds into our new U.S.N. Energy Grid, your home utility bill goes away.

Your tax dollars are now paying for domestic energy generation instead of killing foreigners, jailing stoners, making billionaires richer and subsidising medieval fantasies.

You can recharge your fancy electric car (which is now ACTUALLY Green because the electricity isn't being generated by burning fossil fuels) at Navy Power Stations.

I challenge anyone to explain to me why this wouldn't be better than what we have now.

Central Standard on KCUR 89.3 to Feature Local Bloggers 10am Thursday, March 10

Bloggers with Local Impact

THURSDAY MARCH 10 -- Let's take a look at browser bookmark-worthy local bloggers.
GUESTS:
Tony Botello, Tony's Kansas City
Jeff Haught, KC Beer Blog
Celeste Lindell, Average Jane
May, May's Machte
Brent Toellner, Local Blogger

80% of these guests will be intelligent, insightful and entertaining so you should tune in and check them out.

I'll be listening.

Coach Doesn’t Let Birth Get In The Way Of Leading Team To State

This such an extreme case of unbelievably fucked up priorities that words damn near escape me.

Damn near.

"The Lipan (Texas) High girls basketball coach led her team to a regional semifinal victory on Friday, then gave birth to her third child a few hours later. With the regional final scheduled for Saturday, it was assumed that the coach would miss her team's chance to advance to the state playoffs, but Branson had other ideas.

Instead of taking a well-earned day off, Branson returned to the bench on Saturday, leading Lipan to a come-from-behind, 45-41 victory over Newcastle, sending the Indians to the state semifinals for the first time in eight years.

I was pretty tired," an incredibly understated Branson told the Associated Press of her return to the court just hours after giving birth. "I never felt like I couldn't do it. God's been good to me this week."

In fact, Branson's claim that her between-games birth was fated may have something to it. The coach reached a hospital in Abilene, where the regional finals were being played, about 9 p.m., shortly after her team's regional semi victory. By 10 p.m., daughter Leslie had already been born, a labor too quick to even allow for an epidural injection.

Yet, had Branson received that epidural shot, she might not have been able to recover in time to coach the game on Saturday, even though doing so did require her to leave Leslie behind in the hospital for a few hours.

"That was all part of God's plan. If I had the epidural, I might not have been able to make [the game]," Branson said."

Jesus Fucking Christ. This is so fucked up I don't even know where to start!

The woman just gave birth to her child, but she thinks it is OK to leave her newborn daughter behind to go coach a fucking high school basketball game?!?

What kind of fucked up values and priorities elevate a fucking basketball game above, well, anything?

I'm thinking the birth of your own child takes absolute, unprecedented priority above everything else in the world.

Personally, I think the fact that she would elevate a fucking sport, a goddamn high school basketball game, above her own newborn daughter should call in to question her fitness to be a mother.

All sports are just stupid jocks playing games for the entertainment of even dumber and less talented fans.

There is absolutely nothing in this world less important than sports.

They don't feed the hungry, they don't save lives, they don't educate children.

They are the equivalent of the Roman Colosseum games meant to distract the citizens from the actual issues and problems that need to be addressed.

When mothers start viewing their own children as less important than a Goddamn basketball game, our society is doomed.