Finding other things to cut

So, I've gone about a week without my old news source, The Philadelphia Inquirer. I don't necessarily miss it yet, but I'm still somewhat adrift as I try to figure out an efficient way to digest news. An observation: the choices are abundant, but they're confusing and shifting. It looks like Google Reader is going the way of the dinosaur, which is okay by me. Flipboard is quite a good app, but I can't get the precise local and regional stuff I want from it. News Republic seems similar to Flipboard, but more newsy. Though I dont' feel like I trust it the way I trust content on Flipboard. Google News is coming closest to me as a means of having to open both the Intelligencer and Reporter websites.

I bounce back and forth between The Times and The Post. And, after two years of teaching Macro, I now get the Wall Street Journal content my wife's employer makes available.

This scene is very fluid. On one hand, I think we're on the verge of paywalls redefining this landscape. However, I think the players are arraying themselves as nicely as they can before they raise those paywalls. If Flipboard charged a fee, how many would pay? I think quite a lot. I already pay The Times and will pay The Post when it goes behind the wall. An interesting podcast on "On the Media" examined these changes. It's nearly an hour long, but worth the listen.

Speaking of podcasts, that has become my chief form of entertainment as I drive back and forth to work. It's making me question what I'm paying for satellite radio. I guess that, too, will follow the Inquirer out of my life.

Back to the news: The news of the IRS scandal has me bummed. Politico's coverage of the issue is pretty thorough. A year or so ago, I might have been satisfied or indignant over the alleged IRS misconduct. However, what seems now like an incident that could undermine what remains of a president's term seems deflating. I take no joy seeing something occur which could cripple a man's agenda. Politics is a savage business, and the two parties are in a cycle of recriminations where scandals consume all the oxygen of the political stage, robbing good legislative ideas of what they need. Whoever is to blame for the IRS scandal, the event is going to divert energies from ideas which might address the nation's future and instead feed the culture of cynicism and obstinate behavior that is now threatening to linger for this whole decade. There is no joy in that.

Funny . . . if I look back over my posts from the past few years, I think I might see an evolution in thought on political ideas. Next thing you know, I'll be changing my registration to independent.