She barks hard for the money

 Well, my disconnect from social media and the 24x7 constant information cycle has been really nice.  I still get information about the world, but on my schedule in my way (you know, like back in the day when you read the paper in the morning and watched the evening news at night).  I guess in that later way I have gone back, but now I am able to read/watch the BBC news or read a blog from someone that lives in Shanghai where back in those "better" days I had to read the Star Gazette and watch Peter Jennings and sometimes the dreaded PBS news hour.  Because, from what I hear, PBS is a bastion of communism that bleeds the US taxpayer dry.  Now given that:

How Much Does the Federal Government Pay to PBS?

• The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which supports PBS and NPR (National Public Radio), received $525 million in federal funding for FY 2024.
• Out of that, about 15% of PBS’s funding comes from CPB. The rest comes from member station dues, corporate sponsorships, donations, and grants.

How Does This Compare to the Federal Budget?

• The total U.S. federal budget for FY 2024 is approximately $6.9 trillion.
• The CPB’s funding of $525 million represents 0.0076% of the federal budget—less than one-hundredth of one percent.

What This Means

• Funding for PBS through CPB is a tiny fraction of federal spending.
• Most of PBS's funding comes from private donations, station membership fees, and grants rather than federal money.

Now that we got the financial crap out of the way, why do they really want to kill a Public Broadcasting entity that made Jim Henson and the Muppets a household name?  Why?  Because they are an independent news agency that can't be corrupted by financial influence from its controlling billion owners.  Do you know how much "sponsored news" you consume a day?  See the same pool of that tiny, small amount of monies that go to the CPB, also help fund NPR - the best damn news you can consume.  They don't like that every morning at 6:30 AM and every 10 minutes this truly independent news organization can report well written and reported incite.  

You see, CPB is great.  Not perfect, not always right, but great.  This organization is truly funded by the people and is representative of the old community news room, local stations, national editor's desk.  This is the news organization of old, without the corporate overloads and the need to be in your face in order to maintain advertising dollars.  

Trust me, not only do you want this because it is the organization that gave us all, Kermit, Big Bird, the Cookie Monster, and Mr. Snuffleupagus (Snuffy for short) - you get my point.  I won't go into all the other items, but I have to point out Monty Python's Flying Circus - I mean come on now!  

Truly think about how important this broadcast network is and has been.  There is still over the air broadcast (digital now), but this is where this network becomes truly important.  Independent broadcast stations (mostly just repeating a national feed now), capable of being rolled up in emergencies, etc...  

When you tie in the desire to kill CPB and FEMA, what is the end game here.  We have to start thinking about the why's rather than the BS emotional or social reasons they use to manipulate you; or whether it is your team that is doing the dismantling.  

Oh, and a reminder your team is at home with you, it is the people you work with every day, see at the grocery store, the local pub, it is by no means people who would question why you are sitting next to them on a plane.

Oh, and here is a really cool pic - I just love AI and hate it at the same time:

For now, I'm good (MMGA)...

- JJ