2013 Cedar Fair Season pass question

I agree that we get the government and media we deserve. And it wasn't my intention to blame the media independent of those who support it (us).

A specific counterpoint to the media is the Weather Channel. Remember the good ol' days when snow was just snow? Now you get more than 3 flurries and the storm gets a mythological name. Why is that? I think that is a great example of media sensationalization that no one asked for.

Ratings imply that it's exactly what people want.

No one can dramatize weather as well as Cleveland.

Tell me about it. That's why I don't watch local news. Ever.

But did anyone ask for it in the first place? If not why is that what we deserve?

No one asked for reality TV, either, and yet people mindlessly consume it. It doesn't matter if they asked for it or not. If it's offered to them and they want more, the problem hardly lies with the entity that created it.

The sensationalism in media has been snowballing for a while now. No doubt it's happening because it works, meaning people demand or at least respond positively to it. Like anything else, it's all about the money, because getting people frantic enough to tune in for breaking coverage of 2 inches of snow in the mid-west is good for your advertisers. That kind of coverage certainly isn't doing us any favors, but as Jeff said, we get the media we deserve.

That seems to be a simple explanation for why things happen. It doesn't just apply to government and the media. I guess we deserve Walmart since a lot of people shop there. Same goes for Chick Fil A and everything else that people on this site hate.;)

Chick Fil A did that to themselves. I don't really think religion has any place in business, but I think most will ignore religion in business if it is not used as a way to express intolerance and fear for a group of people. Just a little sidenote.

bunky666 said:
^^ Ah, Gator, that is why I adore you! :)

(snip)

...you put out...

This one was for Moosh, since he's not here to do that himself....and I know he'd want to.

Jeff said:

But I'm not convinced that there is a widely held "progressive" agenda to equalize anything, any more than there's a stingy conservative agenda to oppress the middle class. Both appear to me as fringe elements that are not widely held beliefs in government or among the public at large. I think people buy into either end to reinforce their echo chambers, but I still don't believe either end of the spectrum is widely held.

I wish I could share in your optimism. I believe that the progressive movement in government is enormous, which to me indicates it is a widely held state of mind among the public (the fact that Obama was reelected also suggests this, although his opponent certainly helped by running a sucky campaign). And it's been this way for far too long, to the point where most of said public has become so used to it that it's accepted as "just the way it is." We've become the frog in boiling water.

The fact that people believe we need federal departments like the EPA and Education, and programs like minimum wage and welfare--and likely balk at any suggestion that all of these are not only unnecessary, but contribute to the deterioration of a free society--is evidence to me that this is true.

The fact that there are Bloombergs and Feinsteins making national headlines because they are trying to push idiotic legislation in the guise of making us all safer, when in reality it does absolutely nothing but help destroy individual rights, is evidence to me that this is true.

Contrary to seemingly popular belief, the federal government doesn't exist to save us from our own stupidity.

Just wanted to jump in with some Wal-Mart stuff. They've updated the commercial in our area that I mentioned a while back where they compare Wal-Mart pricing to Kroger. This time the lady saves like $5. It's $63-something at Kroger to $58-something at Wal-Mart. Interestingly, the detailed list seems to be missing from the promo site. I wonder if they're about to do another update?

Also, remembered a few good documentary/shows about Wal-Mart.

CNBC did The Age Of Wal-Mart a while back (can't find it online, but it's really good) and followed in 2009 with The New Age Of Wal-Mart.

And there's a movie-length documentary done in 2005 called Wal-Mart: The High Cost Of Low Prices.

I've seen that last one. It's on either Netflix or Amazon Prime streaming. Good stuff, if you're a doc nerd like me.

Vater said:

I believe that the progressive movement in government is enormous...

Since when have Progressives been the primary proponents of big government? All elected officials in, say, the last 20+ years have pushed for bigger government, albeit with their preferred agendas added for flavor.

...to me indicates it is a widely held state of mind among the public (the fact that Obama was reelected also suggests this...

Again, I think you're conflating agendas you don't like - liberalism and/or progressivism - with big government. That couldn't be further from the truth, at least from what I've seen. There has been no shortage of big government nonsense pushed through by both major parties.

...Bloombergs and Feinsteins...

That's a pretty wide brush you're using on that laughably low-hanging fruit. :-)

There is no power or money for politicians in limited government. And as pretty much all politicians are only about power and money, extremely few have any interest in limited government. Though in the end, the real problem is that we just do not have enough people who actually want limited government. Some folks pay lip service to the concept. But when push comes to shove, they really just want non-limited government that does what they want it to do (rather than government that does little).

When did I ever mention that only one party was progressive-minded? Both parties are full of them.

And I don't think I'm conflating anything. Progressives believe in government involvement in practically everything. I'm not understanding how the two--progressivism and big government--are somehow unrelated.

While the Progressives differed in their assessment of the problems and how to resolve them, they generally shared in common the view that government at every level must be actively involved in these reforms. The existing constitutional system was outdated and must be made into a dynamic, evolving instrument of social change, aided by scientific knowledge and the development of administrative bureaucracy.

From this page.

But anyway, maybe the term "statism" is a little closer to my thought process.

Though in the end, the real problem is that we just do not have enough people who actually want limited government.

Yeah, this. The Tea Party seems to be comprised of the most folks who are genuinely pushing for limited government...yet they get labeled as extremist nutjobs by Democrats and much of the GOP.

From what I have seen, a lot of tea party folks juts pay lip service to limited government. Polls I have seen indicate that the majority of them do not support medicare reform (at least nothing that would reduce benefits). Medicare is a significant driver of deficits going forward.

I think it is true that a lot of people who oppose any particular government program get painted as people who want to end all government programs. Just because I am not for certain government programs does not mean that I am for ending all government programs. Though thats more politics than anything else. Both sides do that.

Just torespond to comments. The reason I aksed here is because my internet service is too slow to navigate the Cedar Fair websites. It took me 4 attempts and over 20 minutes just to get two pages on coasterbuzz to load.

I have dial-up internet, and it is slow as molasses. Some days I can't look at the internet at all, because my service is too slow to access it. We have very few internet services where I live. It's either dial-up or Hughesnet, which I heard isn't any better.

I hav been told I can also get an air card. But the service on that issold by the monthly depending on how many gigabites you use each month. The highest amount you can get is 120 gig, but it aslo costs $79.00 and if you go over that amount they charge by the megabyte.

We don't have comcast or charter here. No access at all to highspeed. The $79.00 is only 5 times faster than DSL. And, if you watch a lot of videos, you can use your gigs up really fast.

Anyways, I will be talking to a friend who may help me get a pass, with the monthly payment deal. If not, I won't be going at all.

Sorry I missed all the government jabbing. I thought this was a sie about roller coasters? Why haven't the government posts been banned?

I hear the Wi-Fi signal around mid-Timbers is pretty strong.