The Daily Dose/March 8, 2021
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
USA! USA!: We’ve talked a lot – both here and the campaign trail – about how America is a fractured, partisan and bickering mess right now. It’s been that way for a while now, preceding Donald Trump, though he certainly exacerbated the problem. Partisan, fractured and bickering citizens have been led by a partisan, fractured and bickering government for a while now.
Dry, Technical Matter: How did we get to this point? We blame TV, now in its third generation of being the focal point of American life and the disappearance of civil discourse is one of the prices we are paying. There was a time when civil discussion of matters was possible but that time in America has passed. Now, all we do is state positions and inform others when they are wrong.
Broad, Historical Context: And it’s not so much that partisan networks and websites that don’t bother with impartiality ae the problem. A partisan media has been a staple of the American experience since the broadsides of pre-Revolutionary times. The problem is that is all we are getting. It is now possible for us to spoon-feed ourselves only what we want to read and hear. America is no longer interested in a differing viewpoint.
The Bottom Line: Americans watch, on average, a bit more than five hours of TV a day and when we spend that much time watching things that only reinforce our own narrow view of the world, a partisan, bickering citizenry is going to be the result. There will come a time – perhaps before this half-century is out – when a divided America, aided and abetted by perpetual war and crushing debt, will collapse. Whether or not we do something about it is up to us.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – It’s sold out at the hotel, though people still pester Sparrow for rooms. Today’s Diary.
There were lots of people needing rooms tonight, hardly a surprise in ski season, even during the Virus Era…A couple came right as the bars were closing, clearly guys looking for a place to mate, and there were a couple of other calls and there was a rather poignant one at 0330…A lady about my age came in and rang the bell and boy, you could tell she was weary, with the haggard look of someone whose day on the road started in Quebec…
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On This Date
The long march to today.
In 1817 – The New York Stock Exchange is formed in New York City, to provide restrictions on trading and for formal governance. The board would trade at assorted facilities in lower Manhattan until settling into its present location after the Civil War and its current building was built in 1903. New York stockbrokers had previously organized in 1792 under the Buttonwood Agreement.
In 1954 – One night after playing in the only NBA game with 12-foot baskets, the Milwaukee Hawks play in the only doubleheader between the same teams in league history. Playing at home, the Hawks defeat the Baltimore Bullets 64-54 and 65-54 in games that were 40 minutes long. The Hawks would play in Indianapolis the following night and in Omaha two nights later, making it five games in four nights in four cities. The Hawks went 2-3 during the stretch.
In 1952 – Johnnie Ray and the Four Lads are at #1 on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart – a predecessor to the Hot 100 – for the eleventh and final consecutive week with Cry. It was the first chart single for Ray and the first for the Four Lads and remains the only #1 song for both of them. The song has charted several other times, including a 1986 version by Crystal Gayle that went to #1 on Billboard’s country chart.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The trouble with a situation like this was that a man had to keep going forward until there was no turning back.
Louis L’Amour
The Lonesome Gods
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Asia’s self-titled album spent nine weeks at #1 and was Billboard’s biggest album of the year.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What is the record for most weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart? – Answer next time!
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