Is any of this stuff really news?

Some habits are very difficult to break.

When I wrote earlier this week that I was opting out of the news cycle, I deleted a number of news Websites from my Internet favorites. I stopped checking Rush Limbaugh's transcripts and I decided that what news I needed, I would get from my subscription to the Los Angeles Times.

I've been having the print edition of the Times delivered since I came to California in April 1990, and even in decline, it's still a pretty good newspaper. The great thing about print over broadcast is that if I decide I'm not interested in a story, I just skip it.

I read Sports, I read the Calendar section and I consistently read the front section. I figured I'm at least as well informed as somebody who watches hours a day of CNN, MSNBC or Fox News.

As a rule, I don't watch TV news. I stopped watching local news shows in 1994 when I tuned in to the local NBC affiliate at 11 p.m. and watched a half-hour broadcast that didn't include anything other than sex, scandal, celebrity news and a car chase.

Hey, that's Los Angeles.

I did watch the CBS Evening News a few times because of this lust in my heart thing I had for Katie Couric, but as for the cable giants, the only time I ever hear or see them is when someone else is watching.

That's what happened to me Wednesday afternoon when I took my wife to the hospital for some x-rays. CNN was on in the background, and even though I couldn't hear anything, I saw Wolf Blitzer spend the better part of 15 minutes discussing Michael Jackson's children (Who will raise them?), Sarah Palin (What's next for her?) and President Obama's declining approval ratings.

I did the only sensible thing.

I fell asleep.