Casman Blog

I noticed something lately. I’ve always read the news. The Internet for me has been first and foremost The New York Times. I know that sounds ridiculous in a way, but my start page has been nytimes.com for years, as I’ve always considered it important to stay up-to-date with the world around me. I’ll avoid, for the moment, the argument about biased news sources, diversified news sources, whathaveyou. I started reading the New York Times when I was in high school. My father’s girlfriend loved the NY Post and its salacious, vacuous articles. Drove my father crazy. She was great, but her taste in news was not. Periodically the New York Times would appear and he’d always talk about the quality of the writing, breadth of scope, the variety of news. He’d always point out how the Times would print the full text of the President’s speeches. They’d give it their spin, if you chose to depend on their analysis, but they’d give the speech in toto, if you wanted to get it verbatim.

But I wake up in the morning, I read the news, and what does it get me? Do I do something with it? Does it help me accomplish something? No. It makes me angry. It makes me frustrated. Nothing else.

So I’ve stayed away from the news for two weeks and running. And, surprise! Life’s better.