Just let the television boobs legion vegetate.

Captive and out of the way and view and soundtrack.

I find the evening hours solitude in favorite spaces temporarilly available because of the global dreamkiller machine addiction.

So few fine performances sold out.

Better accessibility of the better stackstock in the library.

Much more room at the best fishin' holes and breakwave spots .

TV clears out a space on the killing floor of culture as long as you are the one to benefit from the mercy of the clearing out.

Let them rot on their couches and atop their exercize balls and bikes.

Let us create an alternative autonomy in their welcome absence.

They may know who's who Simpson or Idol or Daily Soap.

But we know where the best wild asparagus grows.

And the song of the quiet messenger.

I am a person who ONCE worked in TV, until six weeks ago. I hope to work somewhere in TV again, and my understanding of the medium's value is why I want to return.

Television was my only friend when I was growing up. When I finished growing up, I discovered that TV was the only friend for many people; abandoned kids, people with low or no social skills, the old, the sick, the lonely, the dying. It's a window on a world in which none of us can take part, unlike Ms. Lay's plucky young hypothetical man.

It is a window that needs cleaning. It needs to be taken from the hands of megacorporations and wealthy bigots, and made responsible to its viewership once again. Its programs need to be made by people who respect the intelligence of the audience, not those who underestimate and subvert that intelligence. But TV is not intrinsically evil.

Not too many years ago, TV did tell stories of people who took responsibility to make lives better on a small scale - just their family and a few friends. World-destroying, intellectual cynicism and Republican hate-mongering were at a minimum. I hope that before I die, TV can be restored to that. Because just turning it off means turning off the world - which I'm sure the arrogant rich snobs are really eager to do.

I am the true cyber-junkie! I have spent the past 35 years programming computers (from decks of punched cards through to CDs full of source code). I have literally glued my eyeballs to many a cathode ray tube monitor for several years now. I have existed for two days straight on naught but several liters of Mountain Dew and several cold sausage pizzas. I have often monitored a Window on amazon.com, a Window on wizards.com, a Window showing my current source code, a Window on microsoft.com and a Window on salon.com. I am a Fortran Freak, a COBOL Cowboy and a HP hipster.

For entertainment, I shun mainstream TV in favor of 'Burn Notice' on USA Network, reruns of 'Cybil' on Lifetime, Keith Olbermann on MSNBC, Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central and the Science Channel.

To all my fellow cyber geeks out there, I proclaim 'May you live long and prosper'! Nano, nano!

'Course, what does this say of all of us who waste our time browsing the internet?

i did it years ago, but the internet has taken tv's place. auuuuggh.

Television is an easy culprit, but not a cause, of a lack of self-disciplne.

......But soon after entering the real world, he overheard that Jon & Kate were separating --

So he immediately ran home, renewed his satellite TV subscription and spend the rest of his natural life watching E!'s coverage of the separation.

The End.

It would've been 'no text' if Salon had let it.

... be as brave and decisive as the new American hero!