What's the news across the nation?

There is no news in my life -- only history.

Several years ago, I gave up the news for Lent. Every time I tell this story, that "several" comes out differently so instead of stating a number of years, "several" will suffice. It's been at least nine years though for sure. No newspaper(s), no CNN, no car radio. We rarely watch network television so no local news either. We get weather from weather.com and it's personalized! My favorite sports teams are followed via the web and even my log on screen at Yahoo is devoid of news since I deleted all those feeds.
Of course, there are inadvertent exposures to news if we are in a restaurant or some public place where a TV is blaring and it cannot be avoided. Most of the time I hear about current events from co-workers and e-mails and this is almost always a day or two after the event(s). At my age and level of experience it's difficult to surprise me. Have I become jaded? After 9/11, it's become even harder to come up with something that is really way out there.
Since giving up the news, my stress level has gone down, my personal life is happier, my kid's grades in school are better, and my dog had a litter of eight puppies. My car's gas mileage has improved, my blood pressure and cholesterol levels have stayed within normal limits and my PSA hasn't changed in over twenty years (4.5).
I therefore highly recommend a "news fast" for everyone!