Goodbye AT&T

I am in the middle of changing my TV/Internet providers. I have decided to ditch AT&T U-verse for those services. I have been an AT&T customer for various services since the days of rotary phones. Over the past year, I have ditched AT&T mobile and reduced my bill by ½ to ⅔. The service and signal strength are better too. Now it's time to do the same for internet/TV. 

Out with the old

I have chosen YouTube TV streaming to replace U-verse TV. I picked Spectrum internet to replace the internet part of U-verse. My new combination will be less than ½ the cost. This is not an apples to apples comparison, some things better, some things worse. It may take a while to figure out if this was a good decision or not. I can always switch back or find another alternative. 

In with the new

YouTube TV is one of many new streaming services. It is delivered over the internet, not a dedicated cable, satellite or DSL connection. There is no special receiver and remote. While I don't get nearly as many channels, I get most of what I want. There are no infomercial or shopping channels, no dozens of fringe channels I never watched. No 75 music channels, that's what Pandora and Spotify are for. I do get my local stations, the major cable news networks, the major sports providers including Fox Sports Southwest for the Rangers games, and a few general entertainment and movie channels like TBS & TCM. 

There are a few sacrifices. None of the streaming services offer PBS, although limited PBS shows are available online. I will no longer get AXS which had great music shows/concerts. I won't be able to watch the oldies stations like TVLand, MyTV, H&I. No more Gunsmoke or 77 Sunset Strip or Mannix, or Wagon Train... That's OK, I have probably seen every episode of those shows and 100 other old series. Also, I can probably find some of this stuff on the internet, it will just be a little more difficult than switching to channel 1136. 

Some of these like PBS and MyTV are available over the air. Unfortunately, I live on the first floor of a brick three-story apartment building which is right next to another three-story building. I have yet to find an indoor digital antenna that works consistently for most of the local over the air channels. 

On the internet side, I have increased my speed by a factor of over 10 and for less money. I am also hoping that the reliability of broadband and wi-fi improves. Hopefully, the equipment is also a little more robust. I have replaced my AT&T modem/router at least three times. I have also replaced the TV receiver/DVR. Of course, each time was a battle to finally convince AT&T that the equipment was faulty. 

I guess this can be considered "cord cutting" but of course that is not completely accurate. Yes, I am ditching a traditional cable TV package for an internet streaming service. Still, we can not completely cut the cord. We need a physical connection to the internet. Maybe someday wireless internet like the coming 5G networks (or Trump's 6G) will be able to replace a physical phone line, coax, or fiber to your residence but not yet. 

YouTube TV has unlimited DVR storage in their cloud and the shows are kept for nine months. Unlimited, that means you won't fill up the physical DVR sitting by your TV. The one downside, to me, is that once you pick a show to record, it records every episode including reruns. That makes the recorded library a little unwieldy but I'll fight through it. The problem of too much rather than too little. 

There are other minor changes that mostly will just take getting used to There are no more channel numbers, just names on a scrollable list. No immediately jumping from CBS to ESPN to TCM by number on a numeric pad on the remote. Sometimes the channels take a few seconds to start, there is the ubiquitous spinning buffering icon. I'm not usually in a rush.

I still get to stream my TV channels on my phone, tablets, and PCs. Important for when I'm away from home or when I am at home and want to watch two or more sporting events at the same time. 

It's a new day with new technology and new providers. For the first time in forever, I will not be writing a monthly check or two to AT&T. Like many companies, they have taken me for granted for years. Never offering the best or even a better deal to established customers. Rarely offering good customer service. When I called to cancel my AT&T U-verse service they, of course, tried to talk me out of it. He said I had two offers on my account that I hadn't taken advantage of. They totaled about $70/month. I didn't ask what the length or terms went with these offers. The reason I hadn't taken advantage of these offers is that I had never been told about them. Typical AT&T taking established customers for granted. The only offers I ever saw were for phone upgrades and I have never bought a phone from them. 

I'll let you know if this was a mistake. For right now, everything is fine. 

wjh

The Death Penalty

When I was younger, I was a passive supporter of the death penalty. I thought that there were crimes that warranted this most severe penalty. Brutal murders, horrendous crimes against children, and others. Some of that support was also because there didn't use to be life without parole sentences. Those sentenced to life were typically eligible for parole after X number of years depending on the state. 

After years of observing the criminal justice system, I have changed my mind. There should be no death penalty sentences.

I have two major reasons for this change of view. First is that over the past few decades, it has come to light how prejudiced and unfair our justice system can be. If you are poor, Black, Hispanic or other minority, you are more likely to be wrongfully convicted. If you are railroaded to a guilty plea or conviction, there is no reversal of an execution. Even if later proved innocent, you are dead. 

The second objection is that it takes so long to actually carry out a death sentence. There are endless appeals and other delays. Almost every one of these delays involves a court hearing and mass quantities of legal fees. The government usually has to pick up those fees for both sides. Is it really a deterrent to a capital offense if the final punishment takes years, maybe decades, to carry out? 

Here is the dichotomy of my thoughts. Capital punishment should be swift for the guilty but we should make sure that those found guilty are truly guilty.

Because of this conflict, I think any death penalty crimes should be changed to life with no parole. Maybe sentences of 100+ years with no parole serve the same purpose. 

California governor Gavin Newsom just stopped all death penalty executions in his state. This an executive order and can ultimately be changed by the California legislature or courts. There are currently 747 California prisoners on death row. That is proof that under current procedures, regulations, and court rulings we do not actually execute anyone in a timely manner. No one has been executed in a decade. Only 13 people have been executed since 1978, that is 41 years. That comes out to 0.3 per year. At that rate, it would take almost 2,500 years to clear the backlog. 

Texas, where I live has the most active death chamber in the nation. Even with that, there are 221 prisoners on death row. On average those prisoners have spent 15½ years on death row. BTW, 44% are Black in a state with a 12% African American population. 

There is no need to continue to dig into the statistics. It is clear that our current system of carrying out the death penalty is broken. It is certainly not swift and often appears not to be fair. So, let's do away with it. Jail the murderers, rapists, pedophiles, etc. for life. Make the incarceration less than ideal. 

There is no simple solution or answer to this. Beliefs, biases, politics, prejudices, faith, etc. all figure into how you view this. I have come to the conclusion that the death penalty is no longer a deterrent or fair punishment in its current state in our country. That being my conclusion, it should be eliminated. Maybe there are drastic revisions that would make it viable again. Maybe you have a different view of the current situation. That's fair but for now, no more death penalties.

wjh