# Do I really Need to know. . .?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-know/509044>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [September 6, 2009, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-know/509044 "2009-09-06T06:55:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Gus\_Gusterson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@Gus\_Gusterson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gus_Gusterson)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-know/509044/21 "2009-09-08T17:02:04Z")

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I don’t pay much attention to the news anymore and I think I’m much better off for it. Last night, my wife kicked me out of bed (for yawning too much, if you can believe that) and I slept on the couch with the TV on. I woke up to find that someone had stabbed a cat and the CBS morning show (I don’t know what it’s called) was going to have the cat on at 7.

Who gives a fuck that a cat got stabbed?  
Who wants to see the fucking cat?

If you answer “I do” to either of these questions, you are part of the problem.

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**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\
**Post date:** [September 8, 2009, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-know/509044/22 "2009-09-08T17:38:35Z")

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I remember once about twenty years ago when I learned some useful information on the news. I was hearing strange sounds out my window, and when I looked I could see a couple of helicopters buzzing around, and strange flickering lights on the walls of the buildings. I lived on the sixth floor, but the commotion was several blocks away so I couldn’t see down into the street, I could only see the upper stories of the buildings along the street.

So I turned on the tube to find there’s a riot ongoing. The flickering lights were a couple of convenience stores and a few cars, which were burning.

The next night the rioting spread right past my door front. I love the smell of tear gas in the morning. It smells like victory too.

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [September 12, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-really-need-to-know/509044/23 "2009-09-12T18:07:00Z")

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I record about 9 hours of NPR over the weekend and listen to it in my car over the following week. Consequently, I get my news as follows:

[ul][li]I usually hear the 11:00 a.m. Saturday news break (beginning of _Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me_) sometime on Tuesday.[/li][li]I usually hear the 8:40 (or maybe it’s 9:40) a.m. Sunday news break (just before the _Weekend Edition Sunday_ Puzzle) sometime on Wednesday[/li][li]Assuming I get to it, I usually hear the 9:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m., and 11:00 p.m. Saturday news breaks (beginning of each hour of _World Cafe_) sometime Friday or Saturday[/ul][/li]  
And of course, whatever news of last week they make fun of on _Wait Wait_.

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