Last night, Lester Holt and NBC news showed a would-be snuff film. High speed chase, up around 100 MPH, through a dense civilian area. Intersections. Hey, police, read the license plate, use your radio, pick a different method. If the fleeing vehicle hits me, or the cruiser hits me, or a startled station station wagon comes up on the sidewalk and crushes my legs, I don’t want to hear the police say “the fleeing suspect is responsible.” You did this! You chose this!
But in this case, it was worse. The police used the push bumper to force a crash. Central on the front bumper, so the driver can ram a vehicle and not lose control, it is used to strike the target’s back bumper off center, pushing the car off its line, into a spin and a crash. In this case, the vehicle slid, tripped, flew, and spun airborne into a lamp post, crumpling the passenger compartment to about half its former size. The three people inside survived, Holt assured us, so be entertained, folks.
Make no mistake, this was a deliberate use of lethal force. Close enough to ram is close enough know how many are in the vehicle. To known their race (I deliberately have not looked it up – this would reprehensible in Colorblind Utopia). I presume the driver broke the law, given the speed. I figure the other two deserved a trial at least. “Survived”? Have you ever met someone whose child survived even a 85 mile an hour crash? It’s a quality-of-life destroying thing, damn near guaranteed, that hurts multiple victims per family.
And that analysis-free spectacle came from NBC News, the good guys. Don’t get me started on the absolute journalistic abdication of ABC News, with David Muir. Where the top three tornado events of the week outweigh guilty pleas from Mueller investigation targets (and the implications). Where sensational and clearly baseless presidential tweets get showcased in full, prior to the anchor’s weak dismissals – obeying the White House playbook. And where there is no time left for analysis, because we need a heart-warming story of a policeman giving a ride to a kid who walks six miles each way to and from his low wage job. A returning soldier surprising his daughter at school. Lather, rinse, repeat. Real reporting is expensive, so here is a nice police propaganda film, or an Army propaganda film, you can watch while you eat.
From a couple years of dinnertime surveys, ABC is by far the worst – easily the largest share of YouTube videos in place of the news. It’s ABC’s Believe-it-or-Not, with David Muir. Dude, I can find my own YouTube videos. Personally, I kind of like trick shots on those tiny ping pong tables, and parkour, and some music videos I’ve never seen for songs I’ve loved for twenty years. Oh, and there was a cat speaking French, and a cameo by a goat in a 30 second cut from Taylor Swift. So when you see ABC News, apparently at David Muir’s direction, show another damn weather video, ask, “Does this help me know how to vote? Does it even help me know what questions to ask?” And since the answer will be “No”, it’s time to shout at your TV set, “That’s Not News!” And change the channel. Before they start the Prevagen Commercial.
I’ll keep it simple. Prevagen is a “nutritional supplement” advertised to sound like it’s medicine. No law stops Prevagen from lying about its benefits, because if it’s a food, it’s a matter of debate. I had a beet salad one day, and then I went for a run, and it was a great run. Was it the beets? I asked the Internet. Oh, they’ll sell me beet products to boost my running. In fact, any vegetable you can name, someone will sell me an extract that improves my running (since running was what I was wanting to improve). But it’s a lie. Animal cells use protein machinery to do what they do. One protein from a jellyfish, aequorin, got famous for helping make a jellyfish glow. Take away the cofactor it needs, and rest of the protein is useless. It’s food. It does not boost memory. But that’s what Pregagen says it’s made of. How do you know your aging Dad should no longer make his own financial decisions? If he buys Prevagen, for one. It’s legal for them to advertise, but when ABC and NBC award them ad slots during the news, they are complicit in some unconcionably predatory nutritional supplement chicanery.
Duracell is in this diary because I’m pissed. From the most trusted name in news to the most trusted name in batteries. Batteries are priced like pharmaceuticals now, it seems, and you can get both at CVS. Did you ever hear “Change your clocks, change your battery?” Treat that as propaganda too. It should be “Change your clocks, CHECK your smoke alarm battery.” You should get years per battery. Because warning, the new battery could be a dud. I installed a brand new, sealed 9V from a CVS in PA, an astonishing $6.79 for the one pack, and it was DOA. Not a peep. Completely dead using the tongue test (I probably poisoned myself with six different heavy metals. If you are young, avoid my mistakes). Lot number 8149 A9 67, good to MAR 2023. CVS cheerfully replaced it for free, with a different lot number, but I noticed the price was now up to $8.29. For one battery. Merry Christmas! Bu hey, one battery didn’t make me mad, any more than one “Our Guys in Blue are Sweethearts After All” video did. I was already pissed because we’re pulling AAA Duracells from a big pack, for a simple sensor, and far too many of those are dead in a day. Save your receipts, people!
Folks, get your news from the Failing New York Times (be careful – they think they are above the fray, and often that makes them toothless). And from John Oliver’s “Last Week Tonight,” even if it’s from eight months ago and on YouTube. And from Full Frontal, as in, closer to what the front page should be. Actual learn-from-it news.
Resist!