Free at last; thank Gawd almighty, I am free at last…….

"Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas 

I think I have done a good thing after not too much soul searching. I have decided to stop reading the online AMCostaRica.com every day. I had been an almost fanatical reader of that so-called news source for some years. But, gradually, it began to dawn on me that Mr. Brodell's rag is not so much a news source as a combination platform for his politics and merchandising along with a national source for gossip and innuendo. I noticed that he only prints a certain kind of reader letter, and that he tends to run stories that keep reader anxiety at a high level.

An excited reader is what he seems to want, and he can have them. I have removed the link from my browser, and have resolved to stick with the online Top 10 Costa Rica,
Tico Times, and InsideCostaRica for my online news fix each day. You see, one of the things that sticks in my craw about AMCR is the tendency to run controversial stories, not always based on fact or logic, and then fail to ever accept letters to the contrary from readers (unless, of course, he can stir up more controversy in such a way as to continue to support his own opinions, while keeping readers' anxiety levels high).

So, if you put his content together with the fact that his pages are mostly advertising, what are you left with? Very little, actually. Therefore, this was an easy decision to make, and one that should have been made a long time ago. I am now into my second week without it, and missing it less every day. While it may have been helpful at times to provide semi-current reports of weather or maybe outages of the 3g Kolbi cell phone network (as if I need an outside report of such an event, since I am usually one of the first to know), overall I find that I can exist quite well without it.

So, now that my morning news fix has been altered, what do I now look for? I am not sure why, but I have been looking for more news from back home (Texas). But, that might be coupled together with the fact that we are more often able now to watch live television that originates in Texas (Austin). So, that now, by looking online I can flesh out some of the fluff that the local Austin stations talk about. Right now, for instance, the school district in Austin is facing a huge budget deficit. Surprise! (That gives me an idea for another piece - later).

Well, it is no longer morning, I got my news fix already, but now I see that the day is waning, and it is about time to turn on the TV and catch up on national and Austin news and weather. Maybe I'll have a beer, too………care to join me? (sure beats reading AMCostaRica, don't it?)