News Flash

Is it accurate to say that all the major news networks are located in New York City? If there is one that is not, I can't think of it.  Anyway ... I was listening to a news broadcast out of New York City recently and the news guy kept using the phrase -- Everyone knows... Have you noticed how opinionated the "news" has become? (I bet you have.)  Well news to him...  not everyone knows.  Maybe, just maybe... he doesn't know. Maybe he lives in a bubble that sometimes doesn't come near the real world .. at least not my real world.  I emailed him to suggest as much and did not receive a reply.  Imagine that...

Now -- related to this NYC frame of mind and self-centeredness ... according to Wikipedia, Upstate New York is all of New York state that lies north and northwest of the metropolitan area of New York City. So that means that part of the utmost bottom of a huge state, that is a mere 6 miles from where I live in NW Pennsylvania, is considered Upper New York State.  Totally illogical to me. I think of Upper NY as where I used to live just a few miles from the Vermont border. Bet someone from NYC thought up the Upper thing.  Talk about being self-impressed.  Talk about minimalizing an entire state by lumping all of it together in a term that just means it's not New York City.  Hmmm...  No wonder most of the TV news networks think and talk like New York is the center of the universe. They think it is.  I've got news, folks ... for the news folks ... it's not. In fact -- news broadcasters are trained to talk like we do here in this little pocket of Pennsylvania.  Also in fact -- people are apparently leaving the Big Apple in droves and I totally get it. I am thinking that many of the people who work for all the networks would leave if they could. Once in a while a viewer gets a glimpse of that.  Personally, I wouldn't go to New York City again for any reason -- way too peopley for me and apparently it smells worse than ever. Plus, from what I hear and see on those very same news networks,  not only is it dirty, crowded, and noisy..., it is also VERY DANGEROUS.  Let's face it -- I am a rural person. I cherish clean, relative safety, & peace ... among other nice things. I like not rushing around every minute, being the only one at the traffic light, no crowds and ... smiling at and making eye contact with people just because I think it's a positive human "thing" to acknowledge others. It's good for both sides of the exchange. People in big cities, tend to look at their feet or vaguely off into the distance.  Ever notice that?  Sad.

Having said that -- it is important to remind New Yorkers, on TV and perhaps beyond that, that just because I don't live in NYC, it doesn't mean that I am less than they are.  In fact -- I think, probably, that I am in way better shape than they are in many ways. I have at times thought that if I were dropped off in a city and had to find my way that it would not be a problem.  In fact that sort of happened to me one time in New York City when I was 17.  I survived beautifully.  On the other hand, if a city slicker were dropped off ... say ... in my back pasture,  I am thinking they would be begging for help at my back door in no time -- especially if the neighborhood bear made an appearance.  Actually one harmless ground hog, deer, wild turkey, a murder of gliding crows, or the occasional cayote or fox might do the trick as well and send them running to civilization such as it is here.  And then -- there are the swooping eagles ... or the sounds of a hunting season. Yes, a lot of unknowns for them ...  So many things ... like tall grass or the occasional pine cone on the ground,  untrimmed trees,  pickup trucks in massive quantities, functional clothing, etc.  -- all perhaps foreign to the die hard city dweller. I know for a fact that some of them have never seen a dairy cow or even touched a horse.  Imagine never hearing the sounds of a goat. What a sad way to go through life... in my opinion.

Further...The air I breathe is cleaner. I can afford food or even grow some of it and put it up for the winter.  Further -- housing is also way cheaper and comes with way more square footage. I hear birds singing every day. My family is safe and I don't have to rely on scary public transportation.  Oh and there is the fact that I don't have to worry about a Democratic Socialist, with impractical and big government control ideas, winning a mayoral race. It's a whole different world out here in the wilderness.  People are more in charge and tend to respect others (many of them even know their neighbors).  Also important to mention is the tendency here to respect the environment as well. I have not seen anyone poop on the street or even litter in ... well ... ever.  And to think they think we model ourselves after them.  News Flash!  We don't. We sort of watch and wonder -- how they could be letting this happen to themselves? Are they stupid? Maybe we can blame it on air pollution?  They even think that a 6" dusting of snow is a blizzard.  Like I said -- stupid... or perhaps self-centered narrowminded ignorance?

Ever wonder what would happen if just one of the major "news" networks would move out of the New York bubble?  That would be interesting for sure. Wonder if that will ever happen?  I doubt it.  Maybe there is something in the old phrase "Misery loves company".   One thing for sure... I don't want them to move here. They might bring some of their city slicker mentality with them.  Get enough of that just watching them on TV. Plus their shoes look very uncomfortable and impractical, and... I particularly dislike tight, sleeveless or off the shoulder dresses that look like they belong at a cocktail party rather than a newsroom.  Just sayin'. ( I sent an email about those dresses one time and didn't hear back on that either.  Surprise... surprise....  I guess I just got written off as a dumb hillbilly.  I sort of love that, actually.  Go ahead  -- underestimate me.  I am in good company. I even know how to do survival stuff.)