This just blows my mind.
I cannot wrap my head around this. My first reaction to this woman (after making fun of her pronunciation of “cheeuldrun”) was to yell, “GO TO THE LIBRARY, YOU MORON!!!”
At that point, Steve left the room to go hide. He knows better than to stick around when a rant starts.
Look. I live in the country. Seven miles, driving, from the center of the nearest ‘big’ town, which boasts a population of about 6,000. As the crow flies, I’m about two miles. I got DSL two years ago. Before that, it was dial-up, to the tune of about 14.4 kbps. Now? I’m running about 54 Mbps. I have no idea what speed broadband boasts, but I’m sure it’s faster than I have.
And you know what? Not once, not a single time, did I demand that the government provide internet access for me. Yes, I whined plenty that the companies were ignoring the rural parts of the country, and I even went in my head to the “what if” concept: what if the government DID require that companies provide broadband access to everyone, like they did with phone lines ‘way back when’?
And I came to the conclusion that it would be more taxes, more wasted money, more bureaucracy, more CRAP, and less efficiency. And somehow, some way, the government would decide, at that point, that they have the absolute right to dictate what we get to see and access. I saw it happen with digital TV – thanks to THAT ‘wonderful’ program, I now have NO TV coverage during the times that I absolutely NEED it… when a nasty, tornado-filled storm is bearing down on my house. That happens, and immediately, the digital cuts out. That never happened with analog. But the government has decided what’s best for me, and apparently, lack of digital tv during an emergency is FAR more important than a slightly snowy picture of the storm that’s about to hit.
So, I’m listening to this woman – because they played this very video on the radio – and I’m screaming in my frustration, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!! Use the internet at the college that you attend. Use the internet at school. TELL your teacher that you don’t have access at home. I’ll BET that she’ll let you stay after school to do your research, or will accept BOOKS as a viable alternative.”
I get that she lives in a depressed neighborhood, that the main industry that supported that town went away. But when that happens, you have two options: attract another industry to your town (they’re a Native American Tribe. Open a casino) so it’s not wasting away, or move. But don’t just SIT there and whine that, in the face of complete financial meltdown, the BIGGEST problem your town has is lack of broadband internet. And the only solution to that is for the government (me) to give it to you.
My grandparents… heck, my PARENTS…would slap this woman silly, if she said this bullarkey to their faces.
Us Girls..Our Views 
I can’t believe the gall of this woman. Does she have ANY idea how many kids don’t even have a computer at home much less high speed? I know A LOT of people who still only have dial up. There are many ways to use a computer. Like you mentioned, the library or while at school.
A “severe disadvantage?” “Being left behind?” Only with this kind of thinking. She should instead be praising her boys for the good work they do without the luxury of having it instead of making excuses for them and having them see her whine for nothing. “Poor me, poor us.” This really pisses me off. With all the major problems in the world, she’s crying for high speed Internet??? OMG!!!
I have to go find a rubber room.
I can’t watch the video because I don’t have sound on my computer (hey, I think that’s a severe disadvantage, don’t you?). But I have a client that has received an award to fund internet access in poor neighborhoods.
You know, if I hadn’t been around for 43 years, I might be neutral on this. I mean, it’s not all that expensive on a per-capita basis. We already pay for 15 years of free education for these folks, complete with breakfast, lunch, transportation, and tons of special services. So this is a drop in the bucket, right?
But then real-life experience comes into play. I mean, let’s look at where the welfare checks go, what kind of food they buy with their food stamps, and what kind of TV they watch. You know most of those kids have a fully functional TV, but how many of them do you think are watching the Discovery channel all evening? The BBC news? And you know they are only listening to NPR on their radios, right? I mean, after all, they don’t want to be at an educational disadvantage.
How many of these people are going to be using this taxpayer-funded benefit in ways that will only distract them from learning? Get real! Between facebook bullying, porn viewing, online games, etc., when will they have time to do their educational research?
And if the internet is so important, why is it that I am still smarter than the “younger generations” today, even though Al Gore hadn’t even invented the internet before I graduated from college? Last I checked, they hadn’t dismantled all the libraries.
Shoot, half of them don’t even bother to show up at school.
I am sure some readers would find the above “sweeping statements” offensive. But look. Each of these people already has the ability to access the internet. How do you think I get the internet, or my parents? All you have to do is prioritize it and pay the little bit of extra money. Those who would actually use internet service to enhance their education already have it. So like most taxpayer-funded services, there is going to be very little bang for the buck, and it may even be detrimental. And I don’t like paying for stuff that only makes a bad situation worse.
Here’s a better idea. Let people voluntarily trade in their TVs/cable service for free internet service. You’d find out who really cares about using the internet for learning.
I think we should start a movement to get the government to buy you some new speakers for your computer! There’s no reason that the mother of two children – who NEED the computer to learn to do EVERYTHING – should be DEPRIVED of much-needed speakers for her computer! How can you live in such poverty? Such hardship? How do you function?
You are oppressed!!!
We need to get a PR firm to your house RIGHT AWAY! Mobilize Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton! Call Gloria Allred! Write a script for Michael Moore! Contact Sean Penn, Janine Garofalo, and Alec Baldwin! Get Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid on the phone!! Start the ball rolling for a new Speaker Tax which will benefit all mothers with children who do not have computer speakers. This can no longer be ignored!!! PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING!!! HOW LONG WILL WE CONTINUE TO IGNORE THEIR PLIGHT? TURN A BLIND EYE TO THIS HORROR???
[cue soft weeping in background]
I soooooo wanted to title this rant…
“eets for the cheeuldrun”
Okay…I watched the video before I read the post. While I’m watching it, listening to it I am thinking, “okay this sounds like something important, she’s speaking like she is talking about an illness or a REAL concern for her “cheeuldun.” Then she starts talking about high speed internet?! SORRY but…WTH?!
With all the problems our children face, all the problems our country faces, she is concerned about whether or not they have access to the freakin’ internet?!
Here’s a thought, open a book. It’s worked for decades!!! I mean we have lawyers, doctors, scientists, engineers that have succeeded without internet!
He struggled with the dial up service, it took him hours to complete a project!!! Booo freakin’ hooo!! I can’t even believe that this women is standing there, seriously speaking this crap. This is absurd to me!
That’s how I felt Nikki. She was well put together and she sounded sane at first and then she started in on her poor cheeuldun getting left behind and being at such a disadvantage and I think, for example, Lisa’s girls, they don’t have high speed. Pleeeeeze……Audra just got a computer a year ago and she has a 17, 15 and 13 year old. Come on, not everyone has these things and if they do have them, they work to get them.
the big kicker for me was when she said “…up until two months ago…” SHE HAS BROADBAND!!! Honestly. what a moron.
On a related note – have you seen the “cold lunch” article over at “that other blog” today? I think you will love it.
No. I’ll go check it out.
I liked your response over there… and the whole thing just makes me sigh. I don’t know if I have the energy for outrage anymore.
It’s articles like this that make me miss that “other blog.”