A mute button that works on America ... and on me

It turns out there is a mute button for America. One that also works on … me. It is a simple and easy way for a person to get all the news he or she needs while silencing our 24-hour ear-splitting, often belligerent, multimedia, multiplatform, multidevice blah blah blah national information riot. Actually, I have been aware for years that such a noise-reduction device existed. You have, too. It’s nothing new. That’s the problem. We sometimes confuse innovation with improvement. The next new thing fascinates us. Although, with time, the shine can wear off.

There are music lovers for whom advancements in digital recording didn’t lessen their feelings for vinyl records. I know a guy who quit smoking years ago but still keeps his snap-top Zippo lighter in his pocket. And a few of us don’t believe that operating a motor vehicle should qualify as “driving” if the car doesn’t have a stick shift.

When it comes to modern communication technology, however, I am both a purveyor of it and a beneficiary.

I contribute each day to the fast, loud, unrelenting noise that is America.

Progress?

A local gentleman who has communicated with me on and off for several decades says … no. He telephoned (the oldfashioned way, on his landline) to say that he has a strategy to save the newspaper business and to preserve the sanity of Americans.