The blog has been pretty successful and also a learning experience, since there are so many elements involved in getting readers – from the subject, to the writing and pictures, and arranging it all correctly on the emailed subscriber letter, Facebook and Twitter.
I’ve done a lot of experimenting and think I finally have it down, as long as I have time.
But I’m going to have less time because I’ve started freelancing for the weekly newspaper Philadelphia Gay News, or PGN as it’s known around here.
Yes, you know I got my IT Support Specialist certificate, but I’ve been reading the paper for 20 years and keeping up with it while I was out of town.
The publisher Mark Segal and I have been acquaintances for years and recently, the opportunity presented itself.
I’d really like to help with the paper’s website, epgn.com, but that will take some time. For now, I’ve been copy-editing and my first article just came out!
I’m excited about the possibilities, and to be part of a small group of journalists and technical folks whose members have changed over time, but have been putting out the publication for 43 years.
In fact, PGN has won so many awards, there isn’t enough space on the newsroom walls for them all.
We should all have problems like that!
Anyway, click here to see my first article, on today’s front page!
P.S. You’ve seen me ending blogs with, “If you appreciate what you read here, subscribe with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this.”
In case you haven’t checked, the first thisis an article called Facebook Flags, Censors NPR Report on Inflated Government School Shooting Statistics.
via FEE: The Foundation for Economic Education
The second thisis an article called With ‘Napalm Girl,’ Facebook Humans (Not Algorithms) Struggle To Be Editor.
Nick Ut/AP via NPR
The third thisis an article called Did Facebook Flag the Declaration of Independence as Hate Speech?
My whole point is, it’s always better to be in control of your own content and thoughts. Facebook should be looking out for our privacy and getting rid of hate speech, including Holocaust-denial. Facebook deserves criticism including some of the latest:
It’s always good to be remembered, and hopefully being your last new year’s message of the year will keep some of my thoughts on your minds. (I’d be embarrassed to post something like this more than a week late, even by a few minutes!)
Let me start with the most important: that I became an uncle again, just before the new year. Jennifer and Daniel had a beautiful baby girl, Ayelet. She joins Betzalel, Noam and Tali. I’m due for a visit, and can’t wait!
If there’s one good thing about life, it’s that we can usually make fresh starts. Sometimes it’s harder and sometimes it’s not complete, but it’s possible for everybody to some degree. Just start by taking inventory, and figuring out what’s lacking and what’s extra.
In that sense, I completed a life detour by finishing the five courses I needed to earn the Google IT Support Specialist certificate. While I’m on the right track, I started freelancing on a new job that involves my old skills (always with a lot to learn), and hope to become fulltime – which will likely mean working on IT issues there as needed. Details to come. My Twitter feed on this site would be a good place to see it first.
Another big victory for me is all of you, reading this blog and following what I write. It was just Dec. 6 – 32 days ago – this blog hit 20,000 views. Believe me, I don’t visit unless there’s a reason, and that’s usually commenting to update a post. It’s the reason I urge you to comment. You may have come up with a thought I didn’t, and nobody else either, so you’d be adding to the discussion. You’re welcome to say nice things or maybe even criticize me (I’ve never refused to publish anything). But perhaps most importantly is you’ll get an email there’s an update on a topic you care about.
Right now, Monday night, the log says there have been 21,169 hits, and I’ve only published two posts since the 20,000 mark, 32 days ago. So thank you.
On the other hand, this email from Amazon arrived Saturday afternoon:
“We are writing to notify you that your Associates Program application has been rejected and you will no longer have access to Associates Central.
This action was taken because we have not yet received qualified sales activities from your account. As a reminder, Accounts that have not referred three qualified sales within in 180-days of sign-up are automatically rejected.”
Notice how I couldn’t have included that if I’d posted this when I originally wanted!
I’ve made no secret I haven’t made a cent off the blog and won’t ask you pay, make donations, etc., even though it’s costing me money. I don’t like how other sites do that, and also Facebook.
Furthermore, I promised to avoid a certain topic while I’m doing this outside freelance work, and if I become full-time, new thoughts on the topic will end permanently.
So without further ado, let me tie up some loose ends on some posts I’ve written about, pretty much linking to new articles that aren’t in the blog. I’m going to do it by category – Media, Middle East and Religion, and Other – not in any particular order in each category.
How many companies in the pay-TV industry have been raising their prices recently? Five: DirecTV, U-verse, Comcast, Charter and the latest, Dish. That’s despite the industry losing customers over the past few years, largely because of rising prices. https://tvanswerman.com/2018/12/23/dish-becomes-5th-pay-tv-op-to-raise-prices-for-2019/ Yes, the cost of programming is going up but I think the biggest culprits are local TV stations asking for more and more of that retransmission compensation, and regional sports networks. I suggest considering cord-cutting. And since I’m taking the time to write, can someone please tell me how to do it while keeping the news channels and a few others (plus, fast internet).
Two years of NFL ratings declines are over. This season, the National Football League improved its overall deliveries by five percent. In fact, 34 of the top 50 most-watched broadcasts were NFL games, and so were 61 of the top 100. Three of Fox’s “Thursday Night Football” broadcasts made the top 100 after Fox had nothing on Thursdays before this season. Maybe overpaying was the right choice. And NBC’s strong schedule of highly competitive games (the Sunday night average margin of victory was just 9.6 points per game, down from 12.9 in 2017) nearly closed the gap with Fox and CBS. They spend more, airing multiple games on Sundays to a team’s home city. https://adage.com/article/media/top-50-u-s-broadcasts-2018/316102/
The Olympics is taking the year off. So are political ads in most places. But there’s good news, considering vehicle ads are among the most popular on TV. Automakers reported an increase of 0.3 percent over a year ago to 17.27 million vehicles. That’s despite rising interest rates, a volatile stock market, and rising car and truck prices. “If there are lots of jobs and people are getting bigger paychecks, they will buy more.” So no worries about the broadcast business. Don’t let your boss tell you they’re broke. Ask for a raise! https://tvnewscheck.com/article/227839/us-new-vehicle-sales-slightly-17-27m/
Columnist Harry A. Jessell making predictions, including whether Nexstar will be able to close on its merger with Tribune by the end of the third quarter as it said when it announced the merger on Dec. 3: “The regulatory approval process is already a month behind schedule. On the day of the announcement, Nexstar said that the transfer application would be submitted to the FCC the next day and that the ‘comprehensive divestiture plan’ needed for complying with the FCC’s local ownership rules would soon follow. We’re still waiting.” https://tvnewscheck.com/article/227690/whats-store-19-jessells-8-ball-knows/
The number of gimmicks to get you to watch local TV news is growing, thanks to a viewer engagement platform I’m not going to help by naming. Wednesday mornings at 10 in Detroit, viewers choose the Big Story. The boss explained it’s
“not necessarily the lead story or the breaking story, but it’s the story we put more resources into, to dig deep into that story.”
Poor Andy Cohen! (No relation.) I insulted a longtime friend by saying Cohen doesn’t matter to me. Now, in a story you wouldn’t have seen here if I got this blog out on time, the Times Square Alliance is fighting his suggestion they singled him out when they made him take down his umbrella during his New Year’s Eve CNN broadcast. Cohen furiously ranted live on the air about being forced to take it down during a downpour. (Slavery is over. How much did he make?) According to the Alliance,
“It has been our policy that umbrellas are not permitted on the media riser so as to not interfere with media colleagues’ sightlines. There were over 100 credentialed members of the media and 15 live broadcast camera spots on the media riser this year.”
If CNN had paid for a stand-alone stage with no other networks present, there wouldn’t have been a problem. And despite Cohen’s claim the Alliance threatened to pull CNN’s credentials, they say, “Some tempers flared, but it was never the case, nor will it be the case, that CNN would be denied credentials or the ability to cover New Year’s Eve.” https://pagesix.com/2019/01/02/times-square-alliance-rips-andy-cohen-over-umbrella-claim/
A new round of Facebook data controversies incensed lawmakers and added to the social network’s mounting problems. “Mark Zuckerberg testified that Facebook doesn’t sell users’ data,” according to Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “But the company does make deals to hand out consumers’ data for its own financial benefit, including by allowing companies to snoop, or even delete, users’ private messages.” Pallone vowed further action. We’ll see if Democrats and Republicans agree enough to pass a comprehensive data privacy bill. https://thehill.com/policy/technology/422569-lawmakers-grow-impatient-with-facebook
The Justice Department reportedly decided not to ramp up an investigation into Comcast buying NBCUniversal, seven years ago. That’s even though President Trump had doubled-down on his criticism of the merger as anti-competitive. In a consent decree, Comcast agreed not to withhold NBC programming from rival cable companies or video streaming services, but that expired in September. The DOJ had said it was still monitoring Comcast a month earlier, in August. https://nypost.com/2018/12/27/justice-department-backs-off-comcast-nbcuniversal-merger-probe/
I’ve written about the FCC loosening rules and one that’s still around really bothers me when broken. So I emailed this letter to the Media Bureau, Policy Division, EEO Branch, where I’m sure somebody will read it when the government shutdown ends:
In early January, Scripps bought three TV stations as part of Gray Television’s acquisition of Raycom.
1. WTXL, Tallahassee FL: Immediately named Matt Brown vice president and general manager.
2. KXXV & KRHD, Waco TX: Immediately named Adam Chase vice president and general manager.
3. WFTS, Tampa FL: Named Sarah Moore news director (Matt Brown’s old job) the very next day!
Your rules on hiring practices are below, along with the source.
For instances 1 and 2 above, were there already vice president and general managers in place who did not resign? How long can a TV station go without a vice president and general manager? Don’t they ever take vacations? Could another department head (or more) temporarily taken on the responsibilities, especially in such a large ownership group with plenty of managers overseeing the TV stations? Could Scripps, at a minimum, have waited to hire until after fulfilling your requirements?
For instance 3, news departments go without news directors for long amounts of time, trying out assistant news directors to save money. Again, could Scripps, at a minimum, have waited to hire until after fulfilling your requirements? (I think this one is the easiest YES.)
I don’t think any of the above qualify as “demanding or special circumstances” (especially #3) since sales happen all the time and Scripps was expecting these to happen. It wasn’t as if there was a disaster and the stations needed immediate leadership, or someone suddenly died and employees had to work while being comforted.
I see your rules of immediately hiring without posting being broken all the time and think it should stop. It’s all about who knows who, which defeats the purpose of EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity). Scripps excluded dozens of qualified and worthy men and women of all backgrounds from applying.
I hope you severely punish these stations, and others that do this in the future, because they will keep doing so until you stop them.
FCC rule requirements (https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/eeo-rules-and-policies-radio-and-broadcast-and-non-broadcast-tv)
The FCC’s EEO rules require broadcasters and MVPDs subject to the recruitment requirements to:
§ widely distribute information concerning each full-time (30 hours or more) job vacancy, except for vacancies that need to be filled in demanding or special circumstances;
§ provide notice of each full-time job vacancy to recruitment organizations that request notice
The government shutdown is having an impact on meteorologists. Meteorologist Brittney Merlot at KQDS in Duluth said, “As a meteorologist, an important reading we need this time of year is the water temperature. It helps us determine lake effect snow and also monitor lake ice formation.” But they’re not getting it from the Coast Guard. https://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2019/1/4/government-shutdown-hurts-meteorologists
National Security Advisor John Bolton met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, last night, partly to signal the U.S. withdrawal of troops from Syria wouldn’t affect America’s support for the Jewish State. “I think in fact, under your leadership, Mr. Prime Minister – you and President Trump – we now have the best U.S.-Israel relationship in our history,” Bolton said. https://worldisraelnews.com/netanyahu-bolton-meeting-reaffirms-us-commitment-to-israel/
All the best to you in 2019, or at least what’s left of it!
If you appreciate what you read here, subscribe with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I just became certified as an IT Support Specialist and am also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
Sometimes, interesting things happen when you read friends’ Facebook pages. I’m not talking about going to look on purpose, which I’ve done before. I’m just referring to seeing something on your news feed and clicking on it. That got me, as the title clearly says, banned from Facebook pages twice in 2 days! The one I care about is a longtime friend I used to respect, but there’s also the radio talk show host full of hate who I’d never heard of until last night.
I may feel bad about one, but can’t regret either.
Regular readers know I don’t like Facebook and friends are leaving it over privacy issues. I personally have concerns over its business practices and censorship (and lack-of when it comes to Holocaust denial). Many business people say 2019 will not be a good year for Facebook. I hope they’re right. The company deserves that.
By the way, I got no responses from any of them about my blog posts. I never contacted Foden, and I stopped trying with Kenney and Hikes after learning Kenney’s father died almost a month ago. It’s never my goal to make matters worse during a person’s time of grief, but I had asked both of them for answers several times and neither (nor staff members) bothered to get back to me at all, like decent public servants.
Think of those phrases about aging, and how the older you get, the less you care what people think of you. I’m getting there.
So just a warning: Don’t be surprised if I go after you because you can’t behave like a civilized human being.
And another warning: This next part of the post may not be appropriate for children due to cursing, not the subject matter.
Case in point: a Buffalo hypnotist and radio talk show host who actually spends a lot of time at his home near St. Petersburg, Fla. A friend of mine was a Facebook friend of his until last night.
My friend posted this article from the Daily Mail which showed a MTF transgender person at a GameStop store in New Mexico very angry.
At least this overblown tabloid got its references right. See below for links to learn for yourself.
According to the article,
“The woman had just bought an item at the counter.”
Then,
“She demanded her money back after being called ‘sir’ by the male shop attendant, then raged at a fellow shopper who called her ‘sir’ again and asked her to stop swearing as there were children present.”
I don’t know what really happened. The article admits,
“The clip began with the woman already at boiling point.”
Also,
“She complained of being repeatedly misgendered by the store clerk and demanded to have the company’s corporate number in order to make a complaint,”
and it said,
“She aggressively pointed at the clerk as he repeatedly apologized.”
Personally, I wonder why either “sir” or “ma’am” had to be used when a genuinely friendly smile and good customer service should make anyone happy. Less is more!
Transitioning is tough. Nobody can snap their fingers and become the gender they feel they were born to be. There are medical issues, getting experience being “out” as the other gender, and possibly surgeries. That’s plural, for obvious reasons. And don’t forget legal issues over identity. Plus, have some compassion!
Click here for GLAAD’s Transgender Media Program, here for FAQ, here for basic terminology, and here for tips in a list that
“is not exhaustive and cannot include all the ‘right’ things to do or say because often there is no one ‘right’ answer to every situation you might encounter.”
Here are two highlights:
“Transgender people use many different terms to describe their experiences,”
and
“Some transgender and gender non-conforming people may not feel like they match the signs on the restroom door,”
which is why single user, unisex options should be available.
“Any entity that owns or leases a structure open to the general public, including but not limited to Retail Establishments and City-owned buildings, that currently has or at any time establishes one or more single-occupancy bathroom facilities for public use, shall provide Gender-neutral Signage for such facilities.
An entity that has bathroom facilities with gender usage indicated by art work or design may, if such designs predate the effective date of this Ordinance, retain such designs, provided that they use signage that clearly indicates that the bathroom may be used by any person or persons, regardless of gender identity.”
For the past three years, businesses with single-occupancy restrooms must post signs showing they’re gender-neutral,
all new city buildings must be built with gender-neutral bathrooms included in the plans, and
in cases of no single-occupancy restrooms, transgender individuals can use whichever bathroom the person feels most comfortable in.
My friend’s Facebook post didn’t make me happy. I should note he’s a Florida Republican, but I think the post was a lot better than it would’ve been if we hadn’t started discussing the issue a while back.
Then, the responses piled up.
In the middle, you can see what I wrote. I don’t know the type of day that person was having, so I’m not going to make judgments about anything other than her creating a very bad scene.
Then I went on to give facts from the American Medical Association to the uneducated, or simply people who don’t know anyone in the situation.
Click here for the AMA’s “Policies on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender & Queer (LGBTQ) issues,” which starts by saying it
“supports the equal rights, privileges and freedom of all individuals and opposes discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion, disability, ethnic origin, national origin or age.
Sexual orientation and gender identity are integral aspects of the AMA communities and AMA policies on LGBTQ issues that work to inform individuals about LGBTQ discrimination and abuse. AMA’s policies for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people’s rights represent a multiplicity of identities and issues.”
The response was disappointing. The world is a changing place and there’s too much hate here in America already.
Last night, the person a Buffalo hypnotist and radio talk show host I referred to above wrote on the same string I started with information from the AMA that he doesn’t like transgendered (sic) people and they all need help, or something to that effect. I can’t quote exactly, because we had an exchange, he lost the discussion, got angry, deleted the posts, and blocked me. Note: That’s all his fault, especially not being able to quote him exactly!
Keep in mind, his radio gig is Saturday mornings, and the big promotional teases of energy and controversy have been around for decades. Any idiot can speak into a microphone (or telephone from Florida) and say stupid things. This is just one example.
I wrote up a six-part Twitter story with evidence on what happened on Facebook. Click the pictures that were cut off to see them in full. (Don’t forget, you can see my Twitter posts on the side of bottom of this website. I haven’t blocked anybody.)
He started by addressing the word all, but killed that post and others, or blocked me, before I saw any of it. Luckily, Facebook emailed to say he mentioned me.
2/6 What kind of @NewsRadio930#TalkShowHost does that? I'll tell you. @RobertSaviola, whose biography mentions making millions of dollars in the first sentence! Leads me to think he's greedy, morning drive doesn't pay enough, & he needs your money, too! pic.twitter.com/MHqYCAATuG
4/6 My favorite lines in the @RobertSaviola critique above are, “Limbaugh and Hannity look like Edward R. Murrow in comparison,” and, “He also sounded like he had no more than a 2nd grade education, mispronouncing some very elementary words.” @NewsRadio930pic.twitter.com/LxOKPRD09q
I have no idea why he’d call me “a liberal snowflake,” believe I don’t like Sean Hannity (but he’s right on that one), or insist I don’t study. Where did that come from?
6/6 He may get his way when he hypnotizes someone, but the rest of us can read for ourselves how @RobertSaviola is really just a #bigot and #loser, despite his style, two homes and @NewsRadio930 platform, which he should lose immediately. pic.twitter.com/sFDdRrH4z6
So there you have it: The truth about Robert Saviola. I wonder which other groups of people he hates.
Notice I used his Twitter handle in every post. He apparently hasn’t used Twitter since 2014. So much for business and promotion! You’ll also see the radio station’s handle on every post. Hopefully they’ll rethink his employment.
The funny thing is, he’d probably agree on everything I wrote above. The problem is I didn’t agree 100 percent with something he posted yesterday.
He was obviously watching CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage and was happy about what he saw. So were other people.
But media is my field, and we’re both former teachers, which should mean we have higher standards.
Yesterday, I commented like other friends on his post. First, I explained there has been tremendous “progress in LGBTQ rights” but there are also threats.
Today, he I saw he’d responded to my post that I didn’t get it, but he didn’t bother to explain. Some teacher!
Then, with the media knowledge I have and he lacks, I explained about the people he referenced:
Andy Cohen (no relation) does nothing for me, actually works for Bravo (NBC) and SiriusXM, was just moonlighting with CNN for the night, and was responsible for this article.
I worked with Don Lemon and ran into him at Woody’s, many years ago. Need I explain his reputation, these days? In fact, this article is from today!
Richard Quest is most famous for his accent and his unusual arrest. (Warning: British accents are OK for children but details of Quest’s arrest are definitely not!)
At least Anderson Cooper, a respectable journalist, has been nicer to people when he’s off camera than he has been in the past, so I’ve heard.
That’s when the conversation turned to email.
HE EMAILED: “You are over analyzing a totally innocent comment of mine. In my childhood, I saw no openly gay peeps on any TV. 50 years later there are 4 on national TV at the same time. End of story. Has nothing to do with ratings, personal role models, reputations, etc. The others who saw my post totally got it.”
I EMAILED: “Maybe ‘the others’ are older but ‘being there’ shouldn’t cut it in 2018/9.”
HE EMAILED: “Lenny…you and I will have to agree to disagree…you continue to miss my point. You are taking my feeling of joy and amazement and shitting on it.”
As if that was my intention! Keep in mind this was a discussion with a former high school math teacher who was a longtime friend.
I EMAILED: “If ‘ooh, ahh’ does it for you, then enjoy.”
HE EMAILED: “If you feel so strongly, please post your opinions on your own FB page. It’s really not polite to use someone else’s page for your personal platform.”
First, I didn’t watch. I had nothing to post; just a response to his thought like several other Facebook friends of his. That’s how Facebook works!
And keep in mind, I wrote two posts: one on his original, yesterday – and another on his response which I noticed today.
Then I emailed longer:
“I’m sorry. I didn’t watch or bring it up. I just happened to see it on my friend’s timeline (like others did), and shared my thoughts (as others did).
‘It’s really not polite to use someone else’s page for your personal platform.’
Are you trying to silence me because my thought was different?
That wouldn’t be very liberal. I don’t think the ACLU would agree. Most Americans would say I’m entitled to my opinion.
I have plenty of other things to do than add to the discussion. I only did so today because I saw you responded. (Do you think you should’ve taken a moment to explain your response yesterday?)
I’m sorry if you can’t handle so many different thoughts and opinions around the country and the world, but they exist.”
That’s when I realized posts were missing.
“Yes, _____. Censorship is the answer. That’s what the right says about the left and you’ve proven them correct!
I gave the facts and you can’t disprove me. I also explained why.
I also taught the person who wanted to know about lesbians at NBC. I hope that person saw the answer, along with the Philadelphia connection, before you recklessly killed that post.
You ought to be ashamed, thinking Facebook is only for people who agree with you blindly. So much for the exchange of ideas!”
I had realized somebody asked a question and I answered it. I hope they read about Stephanie Gosk and wife Jenna Wolfe, along with her Philadelphia connection as weekend sports anchor on the former WB17 News at 10, before it was deleted from that string! Make that a grand total of *three* Facebook posts I made!
And then I realized he had the nerve to block me!
“This is too much. And then blocking me from your Facebook page when I didn’t insult anyone you know, but simply told the truth about famous people you mentioned!
I don’t think they deserve medals for being gay. I think we should be proud if they do their jobs well, are role models (as I mentioned since we’re both former teachers), and inspire the next generation.
This proves my original point. I expect more from people I rely on for news than just ‘being there’ and the same goes for people I associate with. You don’t qualify.
You’ve shown you don’t care to discuss anything, exchange ideas, or maybe even learn about someone else’s profession. It’s people like you who cause others to #WalkAway.”
He added this post to the bottom of his, as if to apologize for me.
He’s more like the people in these two videos than he realizes!
The vape guy who wouldn’t sell was fired. And by the way, there should be “No Recording” signs at the entrance if it’s not allowed. Without a sign, the person recording should stop at the point they’re told to stop.
My former friend is more like the vape guy than he realizes. I don’t know what caused him to overreact the way he did. Maybe it was a ‘senior moment.’ Maybe he’s stressed. Regardless, I certainly didn’t deserve it. I’m not a student of his and he can’t play dictator with me. I’ve known him for two decades and earned the respect to have my opinion treated with respect. Especially since I still think I’m right!
I should point out CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage beat Fox News Channel and MSNBC’s. Maybe more Americans felt it was the least of the cable evils.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to compare cable ratings with broadcast ratings since I can’t find the number of viewers vs. number of viewers, or ratings points (households or demographics) that can be compared. I looked all over but used Deadline magazine as my source for both broadcast and cable numbers because it was the closest I could find.
So those are two of my Facebook experiences over the past 24 hours. I can only wait for the second story to haunt me but I didn’t cause it, I wasn’t the one who started getting rude, I didn’t name a name even though many people will easily figure it out, and I told the truth as usual.
His loss. I do hope this post isn’t used against me, but it’s a risk I’m willing to take. As I mentioned with Dr. Seuss before, I’m not going to live by what others think.
By the way, my year-end post is on its way. Lots of updates! For that delay, and only that, I APOLOGIZE!
If you appreciate what you read here, subscribe with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I just became certified as an IT Support Specialist and am also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
My interest started when I was looking at my Facebook feed over the weekend and saw this post from a former coworker. Obviously, we’re Facebook friends. Otherwise, his post wouldn’t have come up. He’s a former Marine. We’d always worked well together and even though he is the most right-wing person I know, he’d never done anything to disrespect me or make me feel uncomfortable.
The post had to do with Kevin Hart withdrawing as host of the Oscar awards in late February, but it was the comments that followed that got me. I’m just going to show you what I discovered and it was nothing I’d ever seen with my own eyes, targeted toward me, right outside my own city.
I should take this opportunity to warn you about the language and more importantly, the thoughts, that follow.
Hart eventually did, but apparently it was too late.
I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year's Oscar's….this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists. I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.
I'm sorry that I hurt people.. I am evolving and want to continue to do so. My goal is to bring people together not tear us apart. Much love & appreciation to the Academy. I hope we can meet again.
Then my former coworker and Facebook friend commented as he tends to on his Facebook page. The third comment you see below is also his, and I’d never seen him go that far. I was very disappointed, but we’re still Facebook friends. That’s Facebook’s term for connections. Instead of questioning or debating him, I decided to learn more about the person who wrote the last two comments, since he only seemed interested in Jewish people.
Do you see all the “like” and “love” reactions? That’s what we’re dealing with.
This Brad Foden character apparently lives outside Philadelphia and is a former Marine, just like my former coworker and Facebook friend, but younger.
I clicked his name and saw what he’d posted on his own Facebook page, and everything I’m showing you is public, as you’ll soon see by the “world” icon in the upper right.
Here is another picture of him, posted just over a month ago but years old.
Again, this is what I – a complete stranger – found on Foden’s Facebook page. Keep in mind, we’re certainly not friends, have never met, and this is public. I have no idea what may be on there that’s private.
Here, he managed to turn a gun law into racial hatred for absolutely no reason.
Obviously, somebody who thinks that way about one group also thinks that way about others. Nobody is immune.
Then, after that string, he continued.
But wait until I used one of those phrases of his against him!
I decided to engage and find out what makes someone such a hate-monger. He’s probably about 40 years old and lives near a large northeastern city, rather than the south or northwest, where his thinking is more likely to be prevalent.
I tried to elicit responses the best way I could, which involved some lowering me to his level. I also asked questions, but you won’t find any answered. Instead, just names thrown out that he probably saw misrepresented in hate material, either on paper or online.
What you’re about to see directly followed his comment from above, “They run much more than Hollywood.” It’s not edited. I wrote everything myself and he wrote everything himself. Unsubstantiated, like everything else from him.
At the top, about getting kicked out. I was thinking to myself:
Ferdinand and Isabella kicked the Jews and Moors out of Spain. What happened to Spain afterward? It made some folks there rich from explorers doing what they did, but the country itself was ruined. What could Spain claim for centuries, especially after the British sank the Spanish Armada in 1588?
Then, centuries later, the Holocaust. Europe killed its Jews and so many of the survivors left for overseas. Trace Europe’s downfall in world affairs through the 20th century. Then, Europe made it so easy to let Muslims in and the areas around big cities have certainly changed. How do they feel about that difference in demographics?
Now, look at Israel. It miraculously won independence, survived being severely outnumbered and boycotted, and thrives with technology and innovation.
And that lowlife had the nerve to say Jews got “removed” from so many places! Their losses!
But I kept quiet to read more of him digging his own grave.
Notice he said, “We are done here,” but that was far from the case.
Again, no answers, and this string was over but I wasn’t satisfied.
Instead, after one genius posted, probably to my former coworker and Facebook friend’s original comment, I had already started a new string by updating the original story and tagging good ‘ol Brad!
I won’t say anything in general about people who can’t spell, use proper English punctuation, etc. Lots of people can’t, but they’re smart in other ways. Even some hate leaders aren’t “stupid,” but I think I’m dealing with one of their followers, who is the lowest of the low and dispensable.
Once again, it took a few hours but he simply couldn’t resist not responding.
I thought I’d give him a chance to prove his conservative bona-fides by explaining how markets work, but he couldn’t keep up. It seems he’s just hate. That’s all there is to him.
Now, as we get into hours, you can see it took about three hours to get that last response. So much for that “We are done here” from earlier. That’s the least of it, but it gets discussed at the end. Just wait.
By now, we’ve all seen “((()))” in his writing before. I don’t know why he’d keep trying to hide what he thinks and wanted to say at this point!
But he, himself, continued. Again, none of this was edited except for other people’s names earlier.
So shalom. He’s done. Yeah right!
In case you’re wondering, my former coworker and Facebook friend had to be fully aware of every comment that got posted, by Facebook notifications as they were happening, since it all appears on his page. He’s still my former coworker (obviously) but also Facebook friend. He didn’t unfriend me at any point, letting this continue. I wonder why but won’t ask.
As for this Brad knowing I write (but certainly not as eloquently as him), I’ll assume it’s on the top of my Facebook page. Almost everything else is set to friends-only, and that’s the default. Somehow, I doubt he got that from my former coworker and Facebook friend.
One last point here: Notice how he asked, “How close are you to reporting me now media man?” Earlier, it was “How long before you report me to your family that runs this place?” As far as I’m concerned, publicizing this was his idea.
THIS is where he really outdoes himself! Do you see the name of the newspaper? Do you see what he wrote?
This is the picture of the newspapers blown up. I still can’t see as many details as I’d like, and certainly can’t speak for the newspaper or the picture. You’ll just have to notice the similarities and differences between the two sides. Please comment below if you’re more familiar with this graphic.
So I gave him a hard time for not being able to distinguish between the newspapers or having a clue who owns The Wall Street Journal, throwing in the name of a cable channel he’s probably familiar with, just for good measure.
Then, last night, I let loose and shocked him by showing I knew more about him than he could’ve thought.
That was the last thing I wrote to him. No more. I gave him the floor after that last post.
Then, I went to bed, listening to the TV and all the rings on my phone, all different responses from him. Brad wouldn’t give up.
You’ll notice he finished the string and started new ones, so look at the time since he posted, so you can follow in order if you think he makes any sense.
Was this what he was referring to?
Or this?
I wonder if the authorities or Facebook would consider any of this threatening.
And that’s all, folks! You read every single word of our “conversation.” (I warned you, didn’t I?)
So here are a last few points from me:
And he thought he had a stalker? So many messages from him. So much nonsense. But so much he apparently believes, and he can’t be the only one, so that’s a problem for society.
No, I’m not afraid. I don’t believe in living in fear, and plenty of other journalists have faced much more when reporting. I live in a secure building and don’t have a regular schedule.
And no, he doesn’t know the journalism business, or the turmoil and turnover that goes on in newsrooms.
As for my former coworker and Facebook friend, he’s not completely innocent. Far from it. He wrote some similar things. I’m not happy about that. But I don’t plan to unfriend him, simply because I can read what he writes and he can read what I write, so unfriending is up to him. Hopefully this can be a learning experience but my hopes are very low.
Furthermore, I didn’t name any other person involved in a few of the posts you saw. I blocked off their names. The reason is simply because I had a “discussion” with one person and gave that one person plenty of opportunities to explain himself. He took me up on those opportunities, more than I ever could’ve thought, and I’m letting his words speak for themselves. Nobody else got that chance. And don’t forget he asked, “How long before you report me to your family that runs this place?” and “How close are you to reporting me now media man?”
So let me ask you this, especially for people in and around Philadelphia: If think you know Brad Foder, do you really? Has this changed your opinion of him?
If you don’t, would you want to be associated with him? Do you think he’d really like and respect you? Would you want him working for you? Would you go as far as warning others about him?
If you do know of him, then I hope your answer to the last question would be “yes,” and you’ll forward this web link to everyone you think also knows of him, as a friendly warning.
Personally, I think I know what I’m going to do about what I perceive to be threats, but certainly won’t reveal any decisions here.
Folks, this is America, 2018. As we approach Christmas, which I don’t celebrate, I’ll end with a phrase millions of other people will be reciting:
“Peace on Earth, and goodwill toward men” (and women).
If you appreciate what you read here, subscribe with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I’m also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
Philadelphia is a great place to live. It has so much, so close-by: history, museums, sports. It’s walkable, livable, has green space. No, it didn’t get Amazon’s HQ2 and yes, it’s often overshadowed by New York and Washington. Too bad it has people in charge who don’t care about serving the public.
This goes along well with what I’ve recently written about liberalism turning so far left, it’s often becoming extremism. (See here, here, here and here.) Of course, Philadelphia is more to the left than the nation as a whole. Let’s see how much.
Here is the deal:
Mazzoni Center is the oldest AIDS-service organization in Pennsylvania, and has been “providing innovative and compassionate care and services for people living with HIV since 1981.” That’s according to director of communications Larry Benjamin in a recent column in the newspaper, Philadelphia Gay News (PGN), which is the main source of news for Philadelphia’s LGBTQI+ community.
For decades, Mazzoni’s CEO was Nurit Shein, an Israeli woman no longer mentioned on the center’s history page but who undoubtably oversaw the “steady and continued growth” listed on that page:
The first HIV testing site in Pennsylvania in 1985.
The first sponsored housing for individuals living with HIV in 1986.
Opening the region’s first HIV-related food bank in 1989.
Opening its primary care medical practice, which has since become a cornerstone of the organization’s services, in 2003.
“Today, with more than 35,000 individuals benefiting annually from its services, Mazzoni Center is a leader among community-based organizations in the greater Philadelphia area.”
“The center has 35,000 clients and an annual budget of $16.5 million, $6 million of which is comprised of federal grants. The balance comes from revenue generated through the health center and private-development funding.”
In other words, the nonprofit gets government money and asks for donations, since it can’t come close to surviving by simply charging its clients or patients fees. This affects all of us.
“Thanks to a newly created HIV-prevention funding opportunity from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Mazzoni Center will receive $337,248 annually over the next five years to help continue three of our key intervention projects: HIV counseling, testing and referral services for MSM of color, for which we collaborate with GALAEI (Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative); comprehensive risk-counseling services for HIV-positive or high-risk men to cut down on the risk of future transmission or infection; and our community-outreach program ‘Get Real.’”
“Mazzoni Center is pleased to announce it has received an award of $1.5 million through the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP). The funds are designated to support the purchase and renovation of a Center City building at Broad and Bainbridge Streets, where the agency will relocate and consolidate its core programs and services in summer 2017. …
“The grant demonstrates the growing commitment and collaboration between the State of Pennsylvania and the LGBTQ community,”
and both of these examples of public funding happened, like so much else, under CEO Shein.
But despite so many successes over a generation, not all has been going well at Mazzoni for the past few years.
“Last year, Mazzoni Center was plagued by published reports of systemic racism, mismanagement and dysfunction. In April 2017, Robert Winn resigned as medical director amid charges of sexual misconduct. CEO Nurit Shein was asked by the board of directors to resign later that month, following accusations of delayed action on Winn’s alleged misconduct.”
Then,
“Stephen Glassman stepped in to fill the interim CEO job in July 2017. During his tenure until March, he hired consultants with far-right ties to discourage employees from unionizing, which sparked another controversy. Last September, Mazzoni Center employees nevertheless voted 51-34 to unionize.”
Lydia Gonzalez Sciarrino was hired as Mazzoni’s third CEO in less than two years – moving up here from Florida – but she recently resigned after just seven months. It wasn’t due to the heat, weather-wise. The former Floridian was probably used to our mostly warm weather during her short tenure.
“At the time her hiring was announced in March, she was attacked on social media by Mazzoni Center employees and others demanding her resignation, at least partly due to her non-LGBT status.
“The Black and Brown Workers Cooperative (BBWC), who say they represent nearly 400 workers in Philadelphia, told PGN in a statement in early April, just days after Gonzalez Sciarrino took over as CEO: ‘The days of people who are not from our communities coming in to take up a considerable amount of power in our communities is over,’ said BBWC cofounder Shani Akilah. ‘A white, straight cis woman is not fit to lead Mazzoni, no matter how much experience she claims to have,’ said Akilah. ‘The one thing she does not have and will never be able to have is lived experience.’”
Can you believe that?
Such an outrageous statement about an accomplished woman who the board of directors chose to lead their troubled agency after a long search!
Talk about discrimination, and it happened this year – not just in America, but inThe Birthplace of America!
Besides, who gets to pick their boss?
Click here for more of the article including why Gonzalez Sciarrino had to stop driving and start walking to work, always changing her route.
“The move follows a series of social-media postings on Sloan’s personal Facebook page since the announcement of CEO Lydia Gonzalez-Sciarrino’s resignation earlier this week. In one public post on Monday, Sloan wrote: ‘This is what happens when you cross me. HAPPY MONDAY BITCHES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #WEWILLNOTLGBTQUIET’ over a shared article of PGN’s coverage of the CEO’s resignation.
“A commenter questioned whether Sloan should be congratulated, to which she replied: ‘Congratulations is absolutely the word. THANK YOU … IM [sic] SO HAPPYYYY.’
“In another, Sloan shared a second article written about Gonzalez Sciarrino resigning with the hashtags ‘WeWillNotLGBTQuiet’ and ‘#Bih,’ internet slang for bitch.’
“As she left the building on Thursday, witnesses told PGN Sloan shouted out: ‘I got fired by y’all — tell your friends.’
“Shortly thereafter, she wrote on her Facebook page, ‘They went and fired me for no reason get ready to raise hell everybody.’”
Makes me wonder what kind of people work at Mazzoni!
“Amber Hikes, the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs, had opinions on the resignation of its executive director, Lydia Gonzalez Sciarrino, and posted those opinions on social media.
“When we called her for a clarification and asked whether she was representing her own views or the views in her capacity as a representative for the mayor, she stated: ‘This is a trip. It’s weird that it’s a slow day at PGN, especially with everything going on, but I’ll give you a quote to explain what’s going on.’”
That PGN editorial concluded, “The issue boils down to whether a non-LGBT person can run an organization that serves primarily LGBT people,” and the newspaper has spoken out against discrimination like that before.
In this particular case, it wondered based on Hikes’ social media posts, “Is her view personal or administration policy?”
That’s the question I – as a Philadelphia citizen – wanted answered. I even asked about public officials using their own social media accounts while supposedly working for the public, developing policy for the mayor.
Remember the name Amber Hikes, because this post is mostly about her. Shortly, you’ll read the Facebook faceoff we engaged in, and the letter she asked me to send – containing a bunch of questions – she never bothered to answer. You’ll also see several of her tweets containing profanities, and how her support of certain people – and disregard of others – are a prime example of the left gone too far.
I’ll bet Mazzoni Center management changed its tune on Hikes not long after the mayor hired her!
Therefore, she works for the city but you’ll find no brotherly love coming from her (except for her boss, the mayor) and little sisterly affection.
Hikes had lived in Philadelphia for more than a decade but moved to California more than a year before her appointment at City Hall. That’s when she told PGN,
“‘When I arrived in Philadelphia about 11 years ago, I was a young, black queer woman seeking people who looked like me who loved like me and frankly, the next decade of my life, [I was] just living, studying, working and trying to build that community that I was seeking,’ Hikes said. ‘I noticed these multiple identities that were reflected in the intersections of so many of our underserved citizens.’”
And apparently those are the only people Hikes cares about.
For example, on Aug. 20, Gonzalez Sciarrino fired Kay Martinez, who was Mazzoni Center’s first director of diversity, equity and inclusion. That caused an estimated 50 people to walk out to protest the firing. Among those protesters was no other than Amber Hikes, the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs. I’ll get into the contradiction shortly.
“‘The reason for Kay Martinez’s termination was disagreement with the Mazzoni Center management team that resulted in unprofessional conduct that was inconsistent for someone in their role,’ according to Mazzoni’s written statement. ‘We believe the facts, when communicated in the appropriate forum, will be obvious proof that we could not continue the employment of Martinez, a high-level director.’”
“Gonzalez-Sciarrino took on an ally role once she became the leader of an LGBTQ organization. There needs to be a demonstration of a high level of LGBTQ competency, no matter who it is,” said Martinez. “I’m not saying this heterosexual, cisgendered Latina person has no business being there — it’s about her level of LGBTQ competency. I had to educate the CEO on what my pronouns were and how to properly use the they/them pronouns, and that displayed a very significant trans incompetency.”
I wasn’t there, don’t know what really happened and have not heard about a resolution. Besides, most of us use he/him pronouns for someone who looks male, and she/her for someone who looks female. With so much diversity in the LGBTQI+ community, how could someone look at someone else and automatically know which pronouns they prefer? Even Harry Houdini wouldn’t be able to get out of that one!
“Right before presstime, Hikes did clarify that the statements are ‘on my personal Facebook so yes, I’m speaking personally.’”
Of course, I got interested and looked at her Facebook page. That was last Tuesday, Nov. 20. This is what I found:
So at least one of her Facebook friends, apparently not from Philadelphia, was very interested in Gonzalez Sciarrino’s three replacements, and wanted to make sure at least one was of what she considered the proper race, and trans, rather than cis.
Remember, the Mazzoni Center survives on public, taxpayer money – plus the generosity of some individual members of the public. Tens of thousands of people’s health, and other people’s jobs, depend on the place running smoothly. Otherwise, it’s a waste of money and a huge shame after so many people worked for so long, so Mazzoni could offer groundbreaking programs.
See that Facebook friend’s response before my question, which I decided should be about a large group of individuals never once mentioned in the resignation matter: men!
You can see I was attacked and also who her Facebook friends are by the number of thumbs-up quickly praising her for acting strong and attacking me. (Who your friends are tells a lot about you.) But I thought this public servant was out of line and didn’t give up, explaining myself further, using her tone against her, and then mentioning the mayor.
My letter makes a good point about her sentence starting with “Yes my boss.” So before going to bed, she made a more disgraceful assumptions and remarks, but invited me to send an email to her office, which I did.
(It appears since then, Hikes made her personal Facebook account private, and after that shut it down. Good move for somebody who was documented as having injected herself into multiple firestorms on social media!)
I spent the next morning crafting this exact letter to Hikes, emailed it midday, and cc’ed Mayor Kenney, whom Hikes spoke for and answers to:
Hi, Ms. Hikes! I’m a citizen of Philadelphia, on and off for 20 years on Thanksgiving (tomorrow, by coincidence).
You’ll no doubt remember last night, I wrote, asking you a question. I had just finishing reading PGN‘s latest article on the saga of the Mazzoni Center, and you said to “Feel free to shoot an email … with your grievances.”
Here it is.
I don’t expect detailed answers to every question I’m putting forth here, but would appreciate general explanations about some of the things you’ve said, and some of the ways I feel.
· “lived experience” qualifies a leader for an organization that deals with marginalized communities.
· “I think that personal, lived experience with those communities is essential to be able to serve them appropriately” … “In the same way that I think it is appropriate for a black person to lead Black Lives Matter, it is appropriate for a woman to lead the National Organization of Women, I think it’s appropriate for an LGBT person to lead an LGBTQ center.”
Actually, while proofreading before publishing this post, I realized she must’ve meant the The National Organization for Women, not of Women, and she should know better.
I also just realized the NAACP was formed in 1909 as a bi-racial endeavor – not a black organization – to advance justice for African-Americans.
Seems I know more than Ms. Hikes on some aspects of women and African-Americans! It also disproves her last point. But as you may have imagined, there’s plenty more…
That first statement leads me to wonder what qualifications the leader of an organization that deals with marginalized communities should have? If “lived experience” is a requirement, then are there others? If not, then how does “lived experience” qualify compared to other qualifications? Could it simply be a tie-breaker?
That second statement, dealing with demographics, leads me to wonder, “Do you think it was appropriate for President Obama to lead (what was) a majority white nation?” Also, do you feel that’s OK when it comes to labor laws?
That statement sounds to me like something President Trump would say to the media, not “the executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia,” as it says in your biography (https://www.phila.gov/departments/office-of-lgbt-affairs/). Would you mind sharing what else was going on the day PGN contacted you? (I’ll be happy to help clear things up with them by forwarding your answer, if you’d like.)
(I don’t agree with PGN’s opinion 100 percent and don’t think anybody in the world can, since it tries to give opposing points of view and make us think. I would suggest a few changes to the newspaper but will not question its original reporting. As for any agenda, after decades as a reader, I will suggest it’s the betterment of the LGBTQI+ community in every way, in Philadelphia and around the world. I take that to mean equality and peace.)
Your use of personal social media while serving the public made news, and it was also news to me that it had made news before. (Editorial: “She injected herself into this latest firestorm, as she has with others on social media.”) Therefore, I became curious.
Also, you chose to have your Facebook account’s privacy setting open to the public (or did not pay attention) which has apparently led to some news and definitely led me to read, which was my right. This morning, I saw that setting had changed and I’m sure you understand the consequences of libel, should that be the case, considering your response to me last night. You know what’s on the Internet tends to stay there. You should also know I always jealously protect my good name, with legal counsel on hand for a situation exactly two weeks ago (Nov. 7). I’ll ask you to make sure any defamatory reference to me on your Facebook timeline is gone, after you respond to me.
I don’t think you treated my questions, and definitely my point, fairly. I was intrigued when I read this comment to your post on Mazzoni, and the probing answers and replies that followed.
When I saw the response that followed, from somebody whose Facebook profile says she is “based in Washington DC and California” rather than any mention of Philadelphia, and considering how you answered her, I decided to ask you about this story making news.
I decided to use gender as the basis of my question, because it had not been brought up, and because PGN reported in its news article, “The three new leaders are Medical Director Dr. Nancy Brisbon, Care Services Director Alicia Manley and Chief Financial Officer Racquel Assaye” – all women.
I even called out my own questions as among the “knit-picking” ones! I wanted to make a point.
Let’s say your response to me was different than above, not so nice, and falsely accusatory.
I’ll point out, right off the bat, your response to me was absolutely rude. You tried to make it clear you don’t work for Mazzoni, using emojis between every word. Of course not. You’re “the executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia.”
Then, you used the phrases “is exactly what we need” and “is moving us in that direction.” Does that sound like a politician with an interest in the center, or something more that may cross a line? It definitely makes your relationship sound different than your first sentence (“I don’t work for Mazzoni,” emoji, emoji, emoji).
But you were one of the people who “participated in a walk-out to protest the firing” (according to the PGN article) of Mazzoni Center’s first director of diversity, equity and inclusion. How could you walk out if you don’t work there, and how could you protest as a city official? I don’t get it, either way.
If you say you were simply standing by the non-management workers there, please realize I’ve been a member of two unions and shop steward at one. I have absolutely no problems with unions, and in fact encourage workers to unionize. Collective bargaining is probably the only way for them to have a voice in working conditions and we are lucky Pennsylvania has not turned the way of Michigan under previous gubernatorial leadership here.
However, the treatment of the patients is the reason Mazzoni exists, and the reason members of the public donate money to keep it running and more. I completely understand the workers walking out if they were ordered to do something morally wrong or illegal. (I chose to leave one job under similar circumstances.) Otherwise, they were probably putting their jobs and even the treatment of their patients on the line.
You also accused me of being sexist, but that is not true in any way. There are women I turn to as mentors for advice, including whether I could be considered one for something I said, did, or believed. Again, I was simply adding one more facet of humanity to the discussion that had not been mentioned: gender. If instead, I had mentioned religion, age or national origin, would you have accused me of “ageist nonsense” and the like?
I don’t know the three Mazzoni leaders’ religions, ages or national origins, and unlike so many others, I’m not asking. It should really be nobody’s concern (except possibly for government employment forms), unless the people involved choose to share that information. Anything else sounds like a quota system and that’s wrong, whether it’s aiming for a number higher or lower than the current number – especially on employment issues where there may be legal concerns and you represent the city of Philadelphia.
Right now, I’m doing as you suggested and emailing you with the address you gave. If you didn’t notice on top, I’m also taking this moment to make sure you know this email is not private since I’m cc’ing your boss, Mayor Jim Kenney, because you called All Lives Matter (a phrase I never used) “nonsense.”
Thanks, but I don’t need you to put words in my mouth.
Mr. Mayor, Would you agree it’s “nonsense” that All Lives Matter, realizing I never brought up that phrase to Ms. Hikes?
Also, should your appointee be answering a constituent as a “black, queer woman” or as a public servant? If you do think she answered appropriately, then do you answer constituents as a “straight white male of Irish descent?”
Ms. Hikes, considering your statement it’s “nonsense” that All Lives Matter, please put in order the amount that these people’s lives matter (in general, not a specific person, and feel free to add any I may have forgotten, or combine any):
white
black
different race
male
female
different gender
lesbian
gay
bisexual
transgender
queer
questioning
intersex
allies
I don’t know about you but I think there is too much division in this country, and a lot of it comes from people treating their fellow Americans as less than them. But on the other hand, others like the ones you responded to cling to very, very specific classifications – and caused me to write.
Right now, our country is divided over so many personal issues. I think concentrating on very, very specific classifications for a job (or three specific jobs) – three of the four (Black, Latina, trans and woman) written by your Facebook friend in the comment, and brown written by you in your first reply to that person – adds to the divisiveness.
The LGBT community is already a minority of the population. Labeling more and more differences separates us, and makes us a tiny minority of a minority of the population. How many people will qualify if you add in religion, age and national origin (oh, and “lived experience”)?
All people are created in the image of God, and automatically entitled to equal human and civil rights. That should be practiced by everyone including the Office of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia.
Unfortunately, your biography on your city office’s website https://www.phila.gov/departments/office-of-lgbt-affairs/ says you set your “sights on fighting and advocating for the most vulnerable populations within the LGBTQ community—specifically youth, transgender people, and people of color.” I take that to mean not the LGBT community as in your city office’s title, but only certain subsets. Correct me if I’m wrong.
Then, a few paragraphs later: “Hikes believes in employing an intersectional lens in all aspects of community work.” Does that mean filtering people and deciding how worthy they are of the city’s help, using the words from your Facebook post above?
Remember, the top of the page which sounds like a job description reads, “City of Philadelphia Office of LGBT Affairs: Serving the LGBTQ residents of Philadelphia through advocacy and inclusion.” I take that to mean the city’s goal for the office. “The LGBTQ residents of Philadelphia,” from the city, sounds quite different than your quote, “most vulnerable populations within the LGBTQ community.” Again, correct me if I’m wrong with this distinction.
And does the city’s use of the word “inclusion” regarding the office you lead refer to all elements of the LGBTQ residents of Philadelphia or just the ones mentioned in your biography?
You know none of us chose the circumstances in which we were born, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., famously said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” I spent years teaching that quote to elementary schoolchildren. I think that concise quote best describes what all of us should want for the future of the world, and these days can go beyond “the color of their skin.”
We, collectively, have vastly different experiences. Much of it is due, as I said, to the fact none of us chose the circumstances in which we were born. But then to read what you wrote last night, “that we need to see more black and brown trans women in leadership in our organizations,” has me questioning your devotion to all members of the LGBTQI+ community in your role as “executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia … serving the LGBTQ residents of Philadelphia through advocacy and inclusion.”
As a city resident, homeowner, and taxpayer – as well as member of the LGBTQI+ community – I want to know how you represent me.
Am I wrong for asking?
Also, do you feel the demographic issue taking such a major role in the Mazzoni saga is turning moderates such as myself to the right, which would probably be the last thing you want politically?
Thank you in advance for your more thoughtful answers this time around.
Lenny Cohen
Philadelphia
I hope you thought the letter was well-written, informative and asked good questions. I don’t know whether Mayor Jim Kenney or his hand-picked executive director of the Office of LGBT Affairs for the City of Philadelphia, Amber Hikes, feel that way.
“There was a very vocal need for someone to be more outward-facing and more community-engagement-based.”
So Tuesday, I forwarded them this second email:
Ms. Hikes and Mr. Mayor,
Tomorrow will be one week since I wrote to both of you and I have not received any sort of answer, much less acknowledgement, to my questions and concerns from either of you.
Public servants need to be available to be effective, kind of like journalists. I’ve been one of those for a couple of decades.
Furthermore, I’m wondering if I’m the first person to ask you these questions because if not, then you could’ve probably given me canned answers you’ve already given others.
I plan to blog on this disgrace (at least so far) so thousands around the world know what I consider the craziness and favoritism that goes on in Philadelphia, and how my inquiry has been ignored (so far). It’s all unfortunate.
I’ll include your entire, unedited answers in my post tomorrow, especially from Ms. Hikes, who had time to immediately respond to her personal-but-public (but last I checked, private) Facebook account at odd hours last Tuesday, Nov. 20. I’ll also include my letter.
Please inform me. That shouldn’t be too hard for decision-makers with your titles and powers in such a big city, right? Even Gmail “nudged” me to follow-up, as if I needed to be reminded.
Lenny Cohen
Philadelphia citizen and taxpayer
I’m ashamed of the politics that goes on in this great city and sometimes ask myself why I don’t move just over the line, where there is no city wage tax that takes more money from paychecks than the state’s income tax does. Productive people don’t seem to be valued.
As for the Mazzoni Center, its volunteer board of directors is about to become a whole lot different. Five of the 17 will resign. According to PGN, the reason is lack of enough diversity among a board with this membership: “Five are women, six are people of color and eight are white men.”
Board president Chris Pope told the paper,
“Many of our legacy board members have served for 13 years, and now it’s time to make space for new faces, new voices and new perspectives. Diversifying our board has been a major focus for some time now and we are looking for prospective candidates that will bring a fresh outlook as we move the organization forward.”
We’ve been through Facebook. Yesterday, I wondered if Ms. Hikes had a Twitter account, and boy does she!
These were all her personal tweets. None of them were retweeted from somebody else. I’m going in chronological order, starting just over a year ago, and any underlining in red is mine. I chose words I think she should not have used, or used in the way she did. It’s unbecoming for someone in her role. At least I think so.
Hikes was actually PGN’s “Person of the Year” for last year! I hope the paper reviewed its reasoning. I think the “Creep of the Week” column it features in every issue would be more fitting now.Divisive: Is anybody left when you leave out men, white, cis, able-bodied, documented, straight, and economically-privileged? Read into that last category as you want.
“officially added black and brown stripes atop the city’s pride flag — making Philadelphia the first city to do so — to recognize people of color who had long felt excluded. … Hikes views the new flag as a way to start conversations about race and identity, particularly with white people who have not experienced the same disparate treatment as people of color — and may be reluctant to believe it exists.”
Talk about pettiness and simple-minded people separating themselves from others when they’re supposed to be coming together, uniting as one!
“found widespread reports of racial tension and discrimination in the neighborhood (the Gayborhood), which often touts its inclusivity. … The report noted that dress codes, ID policies, bar service and treatment of staff can vary depending on the patron or employee, which perpetuates discrimination.”
Because of that, it forced 11 bars and two nonprofits – the Mazzoni Center and Philadelphia FIGHT – to take part in fair business practice training within 90 days and implicit bias training within 120 days. Did places frequented mostly by straight people face the same requirements? Do you think those establishments, including neighboring ones, are any better?
“He was shocked to see the organization named in the report. He said he was skeptical about the thoroughness of the vetting process.
“‘Philadelphia FIGHT is probably one of the most diverse organizations in the city,’ Goode said. He called the organization’s CEO, Jane Shull, a champion of equality in the workplace. ‘I do not believe anyone could write that who investigated, who read the personnel plan, who knew what they were talking about.’”
Cover the top and just show your kids the colorful pictures. Somebody may have forgotten more and more members of the LGBTQI+ community are becoming parents.So high on herself! Can you find Hikes on the cover? Wonder why she doesn’t show herself gracing the cover in her tweet? #exaggerationhttps://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/ThePhiladelphiaLawyer
So citizens of Philadelphia: Do you think there is any more to this woman than vulgarity, divisiveness and unresponsiveness? Is this appropriate from one of our city leaders? Should Hikes be sent her walking papers?
(Click here if you don’t know who your district’s city council member is. You’ll see a map, where you can type in your address, and their name will come up.)
“a 23-member body that will advise the Mayor on policies that support the lives of LGBT individuals in the city and support and amplify the work of the Office of LGBT Affairs. … The members reflect the diversity of the LGBT community, which includes transgender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer communities, as well as diversity in ethnicity, religion, race, gender, disability, profession, citizenship status, socioeconomic status, geography, housing status and age.”
Hikes, still the newly-appointed LGBT Affairs executive director back then, said,
“I look forward to serving with this vibrant team as we address the needs of our community and elevate the voices of our most underserved community members.”
“G Philly was sent documentation from the meeting that raised concerns surrounding Cooks’s social media interactions with members of one of the commission’s committees.
“‘The emergency meeting was basically centered around complaints that Commissioner Amanda Dougherty made about Sharron targeting her in various social media posts she made this past weekend,’ said a commissioner present during the meeting who asked not to be named. ‘Dougherty provided the commission with multiple screenshots of Facebook posts where Sharron indirectly called her out for being a white bisexual woman taking up space in the community affairs committee.’”
Sounds too much like Amber Hikes with social media. And President Trump.
Like the signing of the Declaration of Independence, there has to be another revolutionary change in leaders here in Philadelphia. Click here for directions on registering to vote.
If you like what you read here, subscribe with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I’m also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
I don’t remember a seven-day period like the time since last Saturday. That’s when I woke up, turned on the TV, and saw what was happening in Pittsburgh. I got very angry and couldn’t stand to hear anything about it after two hours.
It took until Wednesday for the anger to turn to sadness. I had my class and other chores to keep me occupied, along with a lot of sleep. (I can never get enough of that.)
Only Thursday, did I watch a local newscast. I haven’t seen national news or cable in a week. I mostly got information from your comments and posts on Facebook. I know it’s not good, but I have reliable friends whose politics I know.
Last time, I mentioned my family in Squirrel Hill, how I’d been there several times, and showed you a tweet about my cousin Jordan (my father’s sister’s son) who helped provide grief counseling and relief.
Here he was on Tuesday, talking to CNN’s Anderson Cooper:
Later, he wrote,
“Such a horrible few days here. At least the media is giving us an opportunity to talk about the important work that JFCS does to help the community recover.”
Terrific job by Jordan and also the media.
So we don’t forget, the victims were
Joyce Fienberg, 75;
Richard Gottfried, 65;
Rose Mallinger, 97;
Jerry Rabinowitz, 66;
Cecil Rosenthal, 59, and his brother
David Rosenthal, 54;
Bernice Simon, 84, and her husband
Sylvan Simon, 87, who were married in the same synagogue in 1956;
Daniel Stein, 71;
Melvin Wax, 88; and
Irving Younger, 69.
JFCS’ website says you can support the injured victims of terror and loved ones of the deceased. Click here to help by credit card or mail a check, payable to Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh – Fund for Victims of Terror, to:
Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh
234 McKee Place
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Monday morning, I didn’t want to watch news from Pittsburgh. I got up earlier than usual and turned on a show I never do: one I figured would focus on politics alone. And they did. And it reconfirmed why I don’t watch.
I’ve grown up hearing, “Be safe on the campaign trail” – and generic stuff like that, which anyone should agree on – but nothing that would cause a viewer to think a supposed journalist has an opinion on a candidate for any office.
About Lou Dobbs: First, he puts his positions in the ring and openly takes sides. Second, I normally wouldn’t ask, but after what you just read and heard, are there any psychologists or psychiatrists – professional or amateur – who want to give opinions in the comments section at the bottom?
#VoteGOP – @RealDonaldTrump: This election will decide if we build on the extraordinary prosperity that we’ve unleased or whether we let the radical democrats take control of congress and take a giant wrecking ball to our economy and to our future. #TrumpTrain#MAGA#Dobbspic.twitter.com/1hALVgRVBw
I should say I’m not for anyone deciding they want to enter this country whenever and wherever they want. Every country needs secure borders, and not like the Communists kept people in. These people from Central America, who I showed Paul Krugman calling “unarmed desperate migrants” last time, are apparently walking all the way through Mexico – bottom to top – set on entering the U.S. I don’t know who they are; just supposedly where they’re from.
But I would suggest “real refugees” would go anywhere they could go if they were so desperate. I have relatives I never got to meet who would’ve done that, just less than 80 years ago. There are other countries around, and groups trying to make a point do not seem legitimate to me.
Individuals hoping to apply for asylum may not be doing themselves a favor by being part of that.
Feb. 6: Could this long-lost photo have derailed Obama’s 2008 campaign? (Photographer Askia Muhammad kept the 2005 photo for himself for 13 years. The image might have fueled the Obama/Muslim narrative, but we know he went to church and listened to Rev. Jeremiah “G-d damn America” Wright for 20 years.)
The FBI has been the worst enemy of Black advancement. The Jews have control over those agencies of government. #Farrakhanpic.twitter.com/DXKCRr1zpo
— MINISTER FARRAKHAN (@LouisFarrakhan) March 7, 2018
“You’ve mentioned your progressive grandmother took you to rallies when you were younger. Times are different, but I wonder what she would think these days.”
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), with Linda Sarsour at the left, as if she couldn’t rally with anyone else. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) getting outsmarted by members of Netroots Nation. That group will be holding its next conference here in Philadelphia, July 11-13, 2019.
Sept. 10: Alan Dershowitz: Why did Bill Clinton share the stage with Louis Farrakhan? (At Aretha Franklin’s funeral, along with Jesse “Hymietown” Jackson and MSNBC’s Al “diamond dealers” Sharpton. Rev. Sharpton used that phrase about Jews in his eulogy of Gavin Cato, 7, killed in the 1991 Crown Heights car accident. He also said, “It’s an accident to allow an apartheid ambulance service in the middle of Crown Heights.” A banner displayed at the funeral read “Hitler did not do the job.” Riots followed and may have been the reason Rudy Giuliani beat Mayor David Dinkins in his bid for reelection. Giuliani said,
“You can use whatever word you want, but in fact for three days people were beaten up, people were sent to the hospital because they were Jewish. There’s no question that not enough was done about it by the city of New York. One definition of pogrom is violence where the state doesn’t do enough to prevent it.”
According to Wikipedia,
“Use of the word was rejected by Dinkins and his supporters, primarily on the basis that a pogrom needs to be state-sponsored.”
Brandeis University historian Edward S. Shapiro later called the riot “the most serious anti-Semitic incident in American history.” Unfortunately, it seems that has now changed.)
That and extreme left-wingers under her spell reminded me of the phrase “useful idiot,” which has often been attributed to Vladimir Lenin, but may not be the case.
“Haaretz’s inexplicable inclusion of Sarsour’s condemnation of the synagogue massacre alongside those of Israeli leaders is puzzling. Moreover, the paper’s failure to note Sarsour’s bear hug of (Louis) Farrakhan, ‘the pied-piper of hate,’ is downright reprehensible, and gives a false hechsher (kosher stamp) to a purveyor of anti-Semitism.”
These tweets are still up:
What is happening in our country?? Holding our Jewish communities all over the country but especially in Pittsburgh in our hearts. We are in this together. We have to be. We must protect each other. https://t.co/YMfsoxiIhr
Whomever did this is a monster. Our places of worship should be sanctuaries. We should all be free and safe to practice our faith in this country without fear of being targeted. https://t.co/w2zbYz7oaN
“guilty of espousing ‘white supremacy’ with her decision to support the Supreme Court nomination of Judge Brett Kavanaugh.”
Senator Susan Collins is the mother & grandmother of white women in America who gave us a Donald Trump presidency. The 53%.
She is a disgrace & her legacy will be that she was a traitor to women and marginalized communities. History will not treat her kindly. #CancelKanavaugh
A white woman Senator is talking about presumption of innocence that is never offered to Black men in America. You are watching white supremacy live on the Senate Floor. #SusanCollins#CancelKanavaugh
“supporting BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) and tweeting that ‘nothing is creepier than Zionism.’ Unsurprisingly, she supports a one-state solution: all Palestine, no Israel.”
The point of the article was that
“When a Jewish cemetery in St. Louis was vandalized, Sarsour spearheaded a crowdfunding campaign with other Muslim activists to repair the damage. More than $125,000 was raised – more than necessary for the project – and Sarsour committed to donating the excess funds to other Jewish sites damaged by vandalism. Sarsour said that the project was intended ‘send a united message from the Jewish and Muslim communities that there is no place for this type of hate, desecration, and violence in America.’”
But at the same time, Sarsour
“declared that feminism and Zionism are incompatible.
“‘You either stand up for the rights of all women, including Palestinians, or none. There’s just no way around it,’ Sarsour said in an interview with The Nation.
“This came as quite a surprise to thousands of Zionist feminists. (And, of course, Sarsour singles out the country in the Middle East that has female ministers of Parliament, equal rights and reproductive rights, rather than any countries where ‘honor killings’ are overlooked, rape victims are executed for ‘adultery,’ and women can’t go out unsupervised or drive, but whatever.)”
The author compared Sarsour to a character in the Purim holiday story who switched sides, from evil to supportive, because he was an opportunist rather than an altruistic ally.
“We remember Charbonah for good because he actually switched sides. Even if it was self-serving, he came around. … Sarsour, on the other hand, is still the same. I’ll publicly thank her for fundraising to repair the desecrated cemetery – even if it was a PR stunt, it was a good thing to do.”
But she doesn’t get remembered the same way because she stayed the same person.
A few months later, the same author wrote an article in the same publication called Protest, But Protest Wisely. Sarsour played a minor role in that.
“Musician Courtney Love Cobain was in a Twitter war with Muslim activist Linda Sarsour, saying that Sarsour had raised $80,000 for the victim of an alleged Islamophobic attack that had been proven never to have occurred. According to Cobain, Sarsour had jumped all over a convenient hot-button cause, bringing her followers along for the ride, facts be damned. (The parallels to Reverend Al Sharpton and the Tawana Brawley case are evident.)”
In fact, Michigan’s August primary had her tweeting up a storm.
The first Palestinian American woman, first Muslim American woman IS heading to the US Congress. History has been made and will continue to be made. Thank you @RashidaTlaib for inspiring us all. #DoneWaiting#MichiganPrimaries
(“4. Palestinians keep turning down fair deals: This argument wrongly presumes that any deal that includes the sharing of stolen land with the victims of said theft could be fair. … 6. Israel has a right to exist! (His exclamation point.) This claim is a product of U.S. and Israeli hasbara, a term for propaganda.”)
And he tweeted out this:
Praying for everyone killed, hurt, or otherwise harmed in today’s synagogue shooting. Sending love, healing, and my deepest sympathy to my Jewish brothers and sisters around the world, but particularly in Pittsburgh.
But he also tweeted out and/or is featured in these:
TODAY Tuesday (10/23) at 7:00pm join @HarrabicTubman and @marclamonthill as they present a closer look at the diverse Black communities in the Holy Land including Sudanese and Eritrean refugees, Black Palestinian refugees and Afro-Palestinians. pic.twitter.com/0vIze0RxbD
Honored to have spoken at the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Conference. Had a great time listening to my comrade Reverend William Barber’s prophetic call for justice. I was excited to… https://t.co/ocsCZyyv74
There are journalists (or journalists-in-training) who don’t know how to cover a tragic situation. Take Royce Jones of WTRF in West Virginia, not too far from Pittsburgh, and the two tweets he posted.
FTVLive’s Scott Jones did a story on the first one, and I tweeted back to young Royce, with tips.
Then, I saw picture number two, let him know what I thought, and he blocked me from his professional Twitter account!
But I got in the last words about being a journalist, asking questions, accepting responsibility and learning.
Once again, blocking someone who can teach you is not what a good #journalist does. Ask around. @JonesWTRF, the picture you tweeted through the viewfinder looks dreadful after what happened. And blocking someone will probably get you more bad #publicity. Take the help! @WTRF7Newspic.twitter.com/lx1PUCb8yL
But he just started Aug. 31, according to his “official” Twitter feed. I know because he calls it @RoyceJOfficial.
He’s expecting to graduate from college sometime in 2020. That’s a long time away. More than a year. It shows. He has a lot to learn, like not blocking people with experience from encouraging and teaching him.
For now, he reminds of the person who wrote to the WCYB Facebook page while I was digital media manager and asked:
Just don’t go to his website. There’s something wrong, and it looks like it’s coming from the Far East.
I’m going to offer you links to other pertinent articles I’ve been collecting since even before that dreadful day, for an election post. Hopefully you’ll find an article or two that speak to you. Some have themes I discussed in the last post. Some are news and some are opinion.
Please don’t blame the messenger if there’s something you don’t like. Just let me know if you see something you think needs to be corrected IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW. (In fact, if you saw this on social media or someone sent it you, PLEASE subscribe to the blog. I always update posts in the comment section – check around! – and I’m the only one commenting there.)
Aug. 26: America Soured on My Multiracial Family (When my wife and I adopted our daughter from Ethiopia in 2010, we did so full of hope. In the years since, we’ve faced ugliness that has robbed us of our optimism—and left us fearful for the future of our country.)
Oct. 27: Shaking My Faith in America (NY Times opinion piece by Howard Fineman, NBC News analyst and journalism lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, who grew up attending Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue.)
Oct. 29: On a very dark day, KDKA-TV news shined with its coverage (Notice the headline didn’t say it was better than the other two local news stations. The newspaper may have gotten details because it has a partnership with this station. Still, it’s a very good look at how TV news works. I should point out Pittsburgh is the largest TV market where the Fox affiliate, which happens to be owned by Sinclair, doesn’t produce its own news. Instead, it carries a 10pm newscast produced by the competition. Also notice how the most reliable people have been at this station – or any other – for many years and have the best sources. They should be respected and valued as they age, and not get pushed out the door by cheapskate companies.)
Oct. 29: On Social Media, No Answers for Hate (Despite efforts against hateful and false content, those posts and videos are thriving. One Instagram search produced nearly 12,000 posts with the hashtag “#jewsdid911.”)
Oct. 30: Anger At Media Spreads Into Local TV (While President Donald Trump’s attacks on the media are usually centered on national outlets like CNN and The New York Times, the attitudes unleashed have filtered down to journalists on the street covering news in local communities across the country.)
Had a hell of a night in Fort Myers. This man apologized for giving me the finger at a rally earlier this year in Tampa. Really. We had a moment. pic.twitter.com/Kfm0J0TbsC
Nov. 2: FNC’s Ainsley Earhardt Gets Heat for Comment On Trump And Press (The supposed journalist said President Trump is suggesting, if the press doesn’t want to be called an enemy of the people, it should report the news the way he wants it. Yeah, politicians editing the news, rather than journalists keeping tabs on the politicians!)
Nov. 3: Here’s what Trump can expect if the Democrats take the House (Most pollsters expect the US House of Representatives to slip out of Republican control with the election of a new Democratic majority, while the Senate, they say, will remain in the GOP’s hands.)
I’d be remiss if I didn’t show you yet another email I got Friday afternoon, thinking I’m a Florida voter and telling me “How to vote for Florida’s Jewish community.” That was the subject line, and Florida’s Jewish community should be insulted this “goody two shoes” thinks he knows better than everyone else. How about a debate?I wrote about this less than a month ago and can’t stand people telling me how to vote, especially if it’s in their own special, narrow interests.
It looks to me he’s getting desperate, because besides rejecting free public school, he’s not sticking to his issue. He wrote less about the cost of education, more about foreign affairs, and for the first time, the state’s economy!
Yes, these are tough political times and would be even if the Pittsburgh massacre hadn’t happened. People are finding out what their supposed “friends” really think and are dropping them from Facebook. It especially hit home when friends of mine, who don’t even know each other, got personal over I post I’d written. In one case, I had to delete some uncalled for remarks on both sides.
But even I got a little touchy and had a moment I felt I had to apologize to a stranger on a mutual friend’s post, about a Florida synagogue’s invitation to a gubernatorial candidate. (So glad I don’t have to decide down there!)
That was on Oct. 26. I underlined what had set me off, and added that last article link days later. In fact, I linked to it in last week’s post.
So maybe a kinder, gentler Lenny will come out of all this, or maybe not. Always gotta learn and improve, but stay true to myself.
I’ll end by reminding you to “fall back” this weekend (turn the clocks you still control back an hour), but we can’t afford to fall back to old times – whether in this country or elsewhere – anymore.
Please leave your comments in the section below, and don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I’m also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
I’ve known I had another blog post “due” before the election, if you know how I think, but too much on my mind and so much going on – personally and in the news – to actually do it.
After this morning’s attack in a Pittsburgh neighborhood where I have family and have been to several times, I did some reading and a lot of soul-searching before starting to write. I’m hoping others who I trust and posted thoughts will unknowingly help a lot.
Like many similar to me, I pretty much grew up supporting Democrats. Jews coming from overseas had no money and learned all about sacrificing for their children. That became a tradition. However, I give my mother a lot of credit for saying she never voted for Jimmy Carter.
“The ‘game’ of politics is no fun anymore. Discussing anything having to do with it used to be educating and entertaining, and sometimes enlightening, among friends and on social media. Not anymore. These days, it’s all for the kill.”
I ended it with two famous old sayings:
“If you are not a liberal at 25, you have no heart. If you are not a conservative at 35 you have no brain.”
and
“Jews earn like Episcopalians, and vote like Puerto Ricans.”
So let’s start this with someone who was able to sum up the past two days.
The worst anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history took place today just days after the largest attempted assassination of political leaders in U.S. history.
I dare any of you to try to be much more succinct than that.
I’ve considered myself a moderate for a long time, but may have been a bit more to the right lately. The reason is Democrats moving further to the left. It’s because they’re nominating young people who don’t know the history of this country and can’t explain international events. Then, there are those with experience who don’t have the guts to educate primary winners, but go ahead and pose in pictures like these.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ)
I mean, with all the people Elizabeth Warren could’ve rallied with against now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh? And Sen. Booker should learn to read.
It makes me very angry they’ve made fools of themselves posing with people who hijacked causes, and I honestly wish didn’t exist. Forgive me. I felt their stupidity would cause moderates to vote for Republicans in the upcoming midterms. That’s still to be seen, but maybe today changed that.
I got up late and turned on the TV. I saw what was going on, made sure the family was OK, and posted these messages. I looked for the first graphic based on what I saw on TV.
You see my thoughts on both. Later, I compared the rest of the president’s day to an event from 46 years ago that too few people either knew or remembered. It has to do with caring and honoring victims.
Honestly, it seems the world doesn’t care when it comes to Jewish victims. The president didn’t go to Pittsburgh. Instead, he went to political rallies and got people all riled up.
This is what a CNN producer reported tonight.
Just now at the Trump campaign rally:
TRUMP: "If you don't mind, I'm gonna tone it down a little bit. Is that OK?"
And this is what that type of rhetoric can do in the middle of an average weekday, this week, when a reporter was about to go live on the air about the mail bombs.
But back to the main story, this is what a staff editor and writer with The New York Times opinion department wrote about her hometown.
Today my community joined the list of Jewish communities worldwide that have been terrorized by anti-Semites. But Squirrel Hill will continue to live by the values that the Jews have sustained for more than 2,000 years. They can never be gunned down.https://t.co/hrfEVy41bW
Apparently Mr. Fred Rogers, who preached to children about being a good neighbor, lived just three blocks away.
The president said armed security would’ve helped today. I don’t know how many American congregations of any faith have that, except possibly synagogues during the High Holidays. Maybe the president was just bringing up a political talking point.
(There’s also a new article, “Pittsburgh shooting may be ‘turning point’ for US Jewish security, says European leader.” It quotes a former president of a group of Belgian Jewish communities as saying relatively lax security at American synagogues “simultaneously impressed and worried me,” and “In Europe, the prospect of deadly expressions of anti-Semitism is a part of life that we grow up with.”)
We are “chosen” when it comes to extra security expenses, even at cemeteries, all over the world. Just do a search if you don’t believe that. Unfortunately, you’ll often find somebody did something within a week.
America is stronger than the acts of a depraved bigot and anti-semite.
All good Americans stand with the Jewish people to oppose acts of terror & share the horror, disgust & outrage over the massacre in Pittsburgh. We must unite against hatred & evil.
Of course, Ivanka Trump became Jewish. She and husband Jared Kushner have two sons and a daughter. Does her synagogue have armed security (and I’m talking about before they moved down to Washington, and when nobody from the family is there, nor anyone else requiring special protection)? By the way, I don’t think Mr. Trump went to either of his grandsons’ brises.
Here is another take on armed security, plus the video.
Let's be clear: Trump is sending the military to guard the border against unarmed desperate migrants (who are still in southern Mexico), but faced with domestic white supremacist terrorists, he suggests that places of worship hire their own armed guards. https://t.co/bs5Muqyxlo
I’d never heard of writer Judd Legum before doing research tonight, but he’d already done his research – posting several tweets, today alone, about President Trump and Jewish people. This should all be hard to believe, especially since the president has a Jewish daughter and grandchildren, and has been part of the New York real estate market for most of his life.
You’ll find his Twitter posts at @JuddLegum. I suggest you click and read, and predict you probably knew about several of these incidents and forgot several others. Also, I just subscribed to his new website, Popular Information. He calls it “News and perspective for people who give a damn” and I think it’s worth a look. (I’ve always believed in hearing both sides from believers, even if I disagree. Helps me understand the issue better.)
I will point out this one tweet out of many, and it happened this past week.
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy posted this tweet AFTER a bomb was sent to Soros' house. Up until a couple of minutes ago it was pinned to the top of his profile. pic.twitter.com/FEeKoPolHL
“The Republican congressman from California tweeted a video of himself making the comments on Tuesday and temporarily pinned it to the top of his feed before deleting the Twitter post entirely.”
Then, there’s the Pennsylvania governor’s race coming up. This is from the incumbent, who is running for reelection.
Tonight Frances and I attended a vigil for the victims of the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh.
Anti-Semitism has absolutely no place in our commonwealth. Together we pray for the victims, their families and friends, and this entire community. #StrongerThanHatepic.twitter.com/w5HiMGmdCh
We salute the bravery and swift response of local law enforcement in containing the suspect and we will suspend campaign activity today so we can continue to monitor the situation and provide whatever assistance is necessary.
Not once did he mention the victims were Jews, or that the victims were targeted for that reason. He didn’t call it what it was. Think it’s an important part of the story that a politician should mention?
while we’re on the subject of incendiary rhetoric, remember that the Republican Party’s nominee for governor of Pennsylvania made a video vowing to “stomp all over” the face of the Democratic governor with golf spikes https://t.co/7RPAvRIG7F
But CNBC’s John Harwood reminds us not to forget Scott Wagner’s judgment and thoughts of violence when it came to this TV ad, earlier this month. Like we would, since we already posted it! Wagner can’t blame anybody but himself, since nobody else appeared.
“Well, Governor Wolf. Let me tell you what. Between now and Nov. 6, you better put a catcher’s mask on your face, because I’m going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes.”
And this is Wagner responding to his comments without apologizing (“I shouldn’t have said what I said”).
You see what Louis Farrakhan posted on Oct. 16. It’s even a subject in my own congressional district’s race. (Pennsylvania just redistricted because of a gerrymandering lawsuit. The Democratic incumbent has represented a lot of suburbanites, but the district has become more urban and his support for Israel has diminished.)
They and many more of the minister’s comments are up on Twitter, which just admitted it didn’t follow its own safety guidelines when the mail bomb suspect’s tweets were reported to the company, weeks ago!
Zuckerberg apparently doesn’t realize hate groups start their anti-Semitic talking points by saying the Holocaust never happened.
He clarified with,
“I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that.” Then, he “reiterated a distinction he tried to draw in the interview: Posts that advocate violence will be taken down, but those that peddle misinformation will stay but ‘would lose the vast majority of its distribution in News Feed.’”
Thanks a lot! But who knows how many times the Facebook algorithm changed since then?
GOOD FOR THEM! Walked by several times lately. Didn’t know opening was so soon. Monday, “#Philadelphia's Holocaust Memorial Plaza is reopening with a reimagined mission as a ‘living #classroom’ enhancing the study of the Holocaust with modern #technology.” https://t.co/9PGDT9rDbv
So after today, what do I think and who am who am I going to vote for? The voting part is easy where I live. I’m happy I don’t have to make a decision in the Florida governor’s race.
As for my thoughts, we’ll have to see. I don’t like either political party, nor how candidates have to choose between the two, or switch to have a better shot at winning or getting a leadership position. Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter switched twice! People say they’ll never vote for a Democrat, or never vote for a Republican. They’re short-sighted because there are good and bad in both.
I stopped supporting HIAS (the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, but you won’t find that name on its homepage!) when it started trying to help everyone in the world, including many I believe have alternatives to coming to the U.S. (I mean, there are other countries, several good ones besides the others.)
I think every country has the right to defensible borders and can decide who gets in. Threat to life or threat of extreme persecution are two good reasons. I know a group practically nobody let in, 80 years ago, and we know how that ended.
But I wonder why so many Jewish groups feel the need to help when there are so many other issues going on here and in Israel. Why don’t they concentrate on feeding the hungry? It’s the conflict between liberalism (political correctness) and Judaism. Even Conservative synagogues (not politically conservative, but with a capital C) are adopting families new to the U.S. You can be a good neighbor without going overboard and probably alienating others.
Other groups that raise money to help elderly Jews in Russia should be trying to get them to Israel instead.
HIAS is a refugee resettlement organization that helped my parents and me when we immigrated to the US from the Soviet Union in 1980. https://t.co/MihVuz9eFl
I don’t know Bianna Golodryga’s circumstances, but her website doesn’t seem to have been updated in more than two years (except her current jobs in a logo at the top), and CBS’ says she’s fluent in Russian but her hometown is Houston.
Perhaps I should watch less cable news, even though I don’t watch a lot. Maybe even loosen my ties to social media. I’ve found myself reading interesting articles, some even sent to me by friends who knew I’d be interested. But I’ve also had success calling out some people commenting on friends’ sites, occasionally just for the fun!
Just like in the upcoming election, it’s about acting on something and changing behavior, rather than just waiting and seeing.
P.S. Speaking of changing behavior, why this Dallas sportscaster and commentator is voting for the first time in 46 years!
Please leave your comments in the section below, and don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. Don’t rely on social media with its hacking issues and censoring like this, this and this. I’m also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
(Online definition of moment: “a very brief period of time.” The italics are mine.)
September’s blog numbers were high with more than a thousand views, despite the fact I only published four posts. (I know. I have to do better on that. And I can’t complain about the time, but each takes many hours to get – hopefully – just right!)
Growing means there are stories some newer readers haven’t seen yet, and I just happen to have some follow-ups for those of you who are longtime readers.
‘A’ for Amazon from minimum wage workers
Amazon has been under fire for a lot of things, from low wages to working conditions, but the former is about to change.
Amazon claims the median salary for a full-time employee in the U.S. is $34,123, and not the $28,446 figure Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) claimed when he proposed a bill that
“would impose a 100 percent tax on government benefits received by workers at companies with 500 or more employees. For example, if an Amazon employee receives $300 in food stamps, Amazon would be taxed $300.”
That’s a win for Amazon’s lowest-paid workers, but there’s a loss for Warner Wolf (not that he works at Amazon).
“Let’s go to the verdict!”
I’ve said many times I don’t want to live in Florida and that was even when I lived there. I think the Sunshine State has nothing to offer except a short time to thaw out at the beach in the winter. Oh, and low taxes and some family.
“In a ruling released last week, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice James d’Auguste wrote that the 80-year-old Wolf’s residence in the premier state for retirees means the suit fails on jurisdictional grounds.
“‘Due to the fact that Wolf is a Florida resident that worked in Florida, he lacks any viable claims…since the impact of any alleged discriminatory conduct would have been in Florida,’ d’Auguste wrote.”
The judge also noted Imus lives in Texas and at 78, he’s in the same age category.
“Imus once said it was time to put Wolf ‘out to pasture’ and ‘shoot him with an elephant dart gun.’”
Wolf’s firing happened in 2016, months after he moved to Naples, Fla., and contributed to the show from there.
“We tried it. It sucks,” Imus emailed shortly before Wolf’s final appearance. “If you’re in the studio in New York … it’s terrific. Anything else is not.”
But Imus himself left the Big Apple a year earlier, in 2015, to live on a ranch in the Lone Star State! The rest of the crew worked out of New York.
From radio and TV, to your computer and smartphone.
Sunday was a big day and not just for football fans. This involves every single one of you who uses the Internet.
Last December, the Federal Communications Commission under President Trump’s appointed chairman Ajit Pai repealed many net neutrality rules passed in 2015 during the Obama administration. Those rules prohibited internet service providers (ISPs) from slowing down or blocking content, or charging for access to certain sites. Consider it Internet freedom and equal access. You pay for a month and should be able to use it as you like.
But later Sunday, the Justice Department sued to prevent the law from taking effect. It argued broadband communications are interstate commerce and that’s regulated by the federal government, not the states.
The FCC wants to deregulate the industry and its repeal actually, specifically forbids states from passing their own net neutrality rules. Pai, a former Verizon lawyer (think Fios), claims net neutrality stifles investment and burdens ISPs with regulation.
The feds’ net neutrality rules are set to take effect in January for the rest of us.
Unfortunately, this post isn’t ending as happily as it started.
I’ve watched and studied politics for decades, and written about it many times here. But lately, I’ve come to hate the subject. Any wonder why?
TV news anchor Howard Beale (played by Peter Finch) probably had a similar feeling in the 1976 movie Network.
We may even be at the point where he screamed,
“We know things are bad — worse than bad. They’re crazy!”
(Let me know in the comments section below.)
The line
“I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore!”
became so popular, it ranked number 19 on the American Film Institute’s list of the top 100 movie quotations in American cinema, released June 21, 2005, for the organization’s 100th anniversary. Network itself came in number 66 in the movie category. (The number 1 quote was Clark Gable as Rhett Butler saying
And thanks, Todd, for having me watch this years ago. New readers will come to learn I’m not the best with movies. Last month, I finally watched another 1976 movie classic, shot right across the street.
Rocky became the highest-grossing film of the year (spawning six sequels) and went on to win three Oscars, including Best Picture. As for the AFI, it’s movie number 78, number 2 in sports after Raging Bull (click here for genres) and quote number 80.
(“Yo, Adrian!”)
And the scene there last week, if you follow me on Twitter, or just look at the feed on right side of this page (below on mobile):
Now, what you can do (rather than sticking your head out the window in the rain):
The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 6 midterm elections – just 35 days away – is a week from today (Oct. 9) in Pennsylvania, two weeks from today (Oct. 16) in New Jersey, next Saturday (Oct. 13) in Delaware, next Friday (Oct. 12) in New York, and next Thursday (Oct. 11) in Florida (and I meant what I said). That should cover most of you. (Click here if it doesn’t.) Make sure you’re registered, learn about your candidates, and take a moment to note Tuesday, Nov. 6, on your calendar right now. (You may even get a sticker!)
Again, please leave your comments in the section below, and don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. I’m also available for writing/web contract work. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lennycohen
I try not to go more than a week without posting something. Unfortunately, it has been 11 days dues to holidays that won’t be letting up anytime soon, and also my IT support specialist classes. (Last night, I finished Course 2, Week 1, out of 5 courses.)
I just don’t like blogs that give a sentence or two without any thought. They’re a waste of time and I’d be embarrassed to post with my name, so I tend to put them on social media. (You can see my last 20 my Twitter posts from @feedbaylenny right here on this site and visit it to see the whole thing. It’s not private. My last blog post, from 11 days ago, is down to #17 which shows I use it a lot.)
And I hate blogs that haven’t been touched in years. Yes, they exist!
Regular readers and those who know me know I tend to be moderate. In the middle, politically.
I’m putting this post out there because of a discussion on my Facebook page over Eric Trump’s shekels comment and the Washington Post article near the top of it. I expected some support. Any support.
So let me explain to a wider audience:
The #WalkAway movement (walking away from the Democratic Party) became organized because its founder said so much of the left had gotten
There are a variety of reasons for not supporting the Democratic Party. It’s turning more to the left, engaging with extremist groups on that side, welcoming more anti-Israel activists, and it unfairly helped Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders in the 2016 primaries. (I’m referring to disliking the unfair help and not referring to Sen. Sanders. I think my first and next-to-last reasons explain enough.)
But that doesn’t automatically mean conservatism is the answer. You can be conservative on some issues and not others. Ask yourself whether a man married three times with a mouth like his can be considered conservative in most uses of the term.
Check out who goes to his rallies. Look closer and see the staging: Always at least one black person and don’t forget getting rid of the “plaid shirt guy”, last week – actually a 17-year-old high school senior.
Tyler Linfesty changed his Twitter profile picture to show his now-famous eyebrow raise!
It definitely doesn’t make President Trump the cure for the far left, and certainly not members of his family who are only part of this discussion because they were the lucky sperm.
Trump has done some good things, arguably the best president dealing with the Middle East, but he’s not perfect there. (Don’t tell me politics has no part in his actions and comments, as he gains Evangelical and some Jewish support.)
Luckily, he says there should be no question between right and wrong when it comes to terrorists and their supporters, unlike certain Democrats. (See Sarsour, Linda.)
“the political party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Fattah) apparently (thinking) the day is the perfect time to mock the US’ current president with tasteless cartoons that dishonor the solemnity of the day and the thousands of lives affected by the brutal attacks.”
Think they’re right? Who can forget Palestinians celebrating 17 years ago when they couldn’tblame Donald Trump?
Trump has made some bad policy decisions (civil rights, labor unions), said some very bad things (Sen. John McCain, daily lies and exaggerations, calling the media the enemy), and been involved in some bad behavior (Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels). Plus, he needs a turnstile for his administration officials because of his management style and it seems he gets to political professionals so much, that they suddenly can’t keep secrets anymore!
To sum up Donald Trump, he does not take people and make them better.
He has huge personal issues, possibly more than any other president, that have influenced his two older sons over the decades. That, and their wealth and fame, guide them. They may be New Yorkers, and live in close proximity to many of us Jewish people, but they are not us and obviously haven’t been influenced by us.
To be fair, I have to add, a Trump-supporting cousin added to the Facebook exchange above shortly before publishing, saying his father Fred was good to Jews and best friends with a rabbi. To quote, “This family has been surrounded by Jews, who basically run the real estate business in NY.”
My response was basically that he suffered from Alzheimer’s disease since his grandsons weren’t even teenagers, so there couldn’t have been much influence. According to Wikipedia, “(Fred) Trump supported Jewish and Israeli causes and institutions, including donating the land for the Beach Haven Jewish Center in Flatbush, New York. He significantly supported Israel Bonds” and other non-Jewish charities. He knew about being of German ancestry and having Jewish tenants, postwar, and we both know the world and people’s behaviors have changed over all this time. I ended by saying I wouldn’t compare Donald to his father, and the grandsons are even more different. (Fred loaned Donald $1 million but kept his business in Brooklyn and Queens. “It was good for me,” Donald later commented. “You know, being the son of somebody, it could have been competition to me. This way, I got Manhattan all to myself.”) That’s not such an appealing quote to me.
In fact, I doubt the young Trumps would admit to being influenced by anybody but their father and revered grandfather, through stories told about him. Eric Trump using a Jewish term in response to Bob Woodward (not Jewish) making money selling a book makes absolutely no sense, and there’s no connection except that it’s a Jewish stereotype. Conservatives try not to label people but this Trump generation tends to.
So let’s look at Eric Trump.
He and his brother, Donald Jr., like hunting. They sure didn’t get that from us!
“On a wild game hunting trip in Zimbabwe in 2011 … the Trump sons reportedly killed a number of exotic animals, including an elephant, crocodile, kudu, civet cat and waterbuck.”
Eric is an executive at the Trump Organization and was a boardroom judge on The Apprentice. See any daddy influence with either?
He likes his name on things like the Eric Trump Foundation (AKA The Curetivity Foundation. Why would it need an alternate name?), and the Eric Trump Foundation Surgery & ICU Center in the Kay Research and Care Center on the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital campus in Memphis. Great charity, but I wonder who the influence was. Maybe his mom? Keep reading and please, don’t name anything after me until I’m dead. Or a little less humble.
According to Wikipedia, The Curetivity Foundation’s 2016 tax return shows contributions almost doubling from $1.8 million in 2015 to $3.2 million in 2016, when his father ran for president. (To the younger Trump’s credit, he announced in December, 2016, he’d stop active fundraising for it to avoid speculation donors were using him to gain access to his father, the soon-to-be president.)
The foundation gave about $3 million to St. Jude and other charities but also paid $145,000 to for-profit properties owned by the Trump family. Peanuts (or shekels) for some, but nobody I know personally. That shows how rare such wealth is.
“The best part about all this, according to Eric Trump, is the charity’s efficiency: Because he can get his family’s golf course (Trump National Westchester) for free and have most of the other costs donated, virtually all the money contributed will go toward helping kids with cancer. ‘We get to use our assets 100% free of charge,’ Trump tells Forbes.”
However, “That’s not the case,” according to Forbes. “It’s clear that the course wasn’t free.”
The magazine reported,
“The Trump Organization received payments for its use, part of more than $1.2 million that has no documented recipients past the Trump Organization. Golf charity experts say the listed expenses defy any reasonable cost justification for a one-day golf tournament.”
Also, the Donald J. Trump Foundation
“apparently used the Eric Trump Foundation to funnel $100,000 in donations into revenue for the Trump Organization. … More than $500,000 was re-donated to other charities, many of which were connected to Trump family members or interests, including at least four groups that subsequently paid to hold golf tournaments at Trump courses.”
Worse, Forbes said,
“The president was never known for giving his foundation much money, and from 2009 to 2014, he didn’t give it anything at all.”
Why can’t one family have one foundation? Do the Trumps disagree so much on donations? Couldn’t they save on accounting bills?
And the clincher, according to Forbes, is
“All of this seems to defy federal tax rules and state laws that ban self-dealing and misleading donors.” And, “The person who specifically commanded that the for-profit Trump Organization start billing hundreds of thousands of dollars to the nonprofit Eric Trump Foundation, according to two people directly involved, was none other than the current president of the United States, Donald Trump.”
The article has a lot more details, including, 1. Why the price of the tournament suddenly tripled in 2011, from $46,000 to $142,000, according to the foundation’s IRS filings. Also, 2. Golf tournament costs escalating “to $230,000 in 2013, $242,000 in 2014 and finally $322,000 in 2015 … according to IRS filings.” Plus, 3. This quote attributed to the president:
“I don’t care if it’s my son or not–everybody gets billed.”
You didn’t know any of this before? Neither did I, and I would’ve probably remembered. Besides, the story got picked up by ABC News, CNBC and Business Insider.
There must’ve been a lot of other news going on at the time for this to be buried. Did anyone keep the newspaper from Wednesday, June 7, 2017?
Looking at the big picture, the world is a tough place. So is Washington, but Americans need to give the office of the president and the people who holds that title support during his term (no, not on every issue!). Then, we can reevaluate in about two years.
As for Congress, I have personal questions over whether to support the better candidate if he or she is a Republican, as I believe in my newly-drawn district, since all of Pennsylvania was redrawn due to gerrymandering. That would hurt the chance of getting at least one house of Congress out of Republican control, which could lead to more fair discussions and debates. But it’ll never happen in Philadelphia, and that’ll have to wait for another time.
So for now, I hope you’re safe if you’re in the path of Hurricane Florence!
The best picture I saw is one guy’s painting on a wall, “Hey Flo… Kiss my grits!” Notice it uses both the storm’s name and southern location in terms of food.
Waffle House even posted it on Twitter. (Click here if you don’t know the importance of that regional restaurant chain during storms.)
And of course, we can’t forget Flo on the TV show Alice!
And a special thank you to everyone who visits this site and reads, except certain lawyers, but that may be an eye-opening discussion with full names, evidence and legal documents fully exposed. That can’t happen until next month.Luckily, I’ve learned not to dwell on certain things and hopefully it won’t come to that, but it’s not up to me. As they say in legalese, “Plaintiff has exhausted his administrative remedies.”
You’ve added 300 page views in the past 11 days and while the Sept. 3 post was one of my better ones, if I can say so, I know not all the traffic came from there. So please continue looking through and comment below any article. Remember, I can use some support after that Facebook post above! Also check comments on posts that interest you, since I’m always updating there!
Again, please leave your comments in the section below, and don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. I’m also available for writing/web contract work.
I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure you’ve had a busy week, between getting used to having your kids in school or planning what to do on this long holiday weekend.
Sorry for the folks in “sunny Florida” with plans ruined while dealing with Tropical Storm Gordon. (But you’re welcome for this souvenir to help you remember the occasion.)
I’ve been doing a lot of reading, besides taking my Google IT Support Professional Certificate class on Coursera, so I haven’t been able to share them on this blog like I should. I say “should” because they follow-up on issues I’ve raised here and you deserve a resolution to what you read here. Often, I put information on social media (my Twitter feed @feedbaylenny is on this page), or in the comments section of blog posts, but it’s only right to follow through in the format you saw it, and update the original. Unfortunately, most media don’t do so.
“no evidence, nor even the suggestion, of impropriety, unscrupulous behavior, favoritism toward Sinclair, or lack of impartiality related to the proposed Sinclair-Tribune merger.”
Of course, the deal never happened since the FCC eventually questioned Sinclair’s candor over necessary sale of some stations. Tribune backed out and sued Sinclair for $1 billion for alleged breach of contract. According to Reuters, Tribune said Sinclair
“mishandled efforts to get the transaction approved by taking too long and being too aggressive in its dealings with regulators.”
Now, Sinclair is countersuing.
“In Delaware Court of Chancery, Sinclair rejected Tribune’s allegations and suggested the companies had been very close to winning U.S. Department of Justice approval.”
It accused Tribune of pursuing a
“deliberate effort to exploit and capitalize on an unfavorable and unexpected reaction from the FCC to capture a windfall.” Tribune called Sinclair’s counterclaim “entirely meritless” and “an attempt to distract from its own significant legal exposure.”
Do you have access to the internet? Of course you do, since you’re reading this. (OK, maybe you’re reading a friend’s printout of this post.) Regardless, in December, the FCC under Ajit Pai repealed many net neutrality rules passed in 2015 during the Obama administration. Think of it as price up or speed down. Those internet service providers (ISPs) you love to hate, according to Variety, had been banned from
“blocking or throttling traffic, or from selling ‘fast lanes’ so websites and other types of content can gain speedier access to consumers.”
But luckily, denying all Americans equal access to a free and open internet got very controversial. Friday, California lawmakers passed a bill what Variety called “the strongest government-mandated protections in the country” and it’s now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Brown hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it. But the FCC ’s repeal forbids states from passing their own net neutrality rules. If Gov. Brown signs California’s bill, this could go to court. Pai, a former Verizon lawyer (think Fios), claims net neutrality stifled investment and burdened ISPs with regulation. Since June, ISPs have been able to make changes as long as they’re disclosed. So far, Reuters reports major providers have made no changes in internet access.
Here’s more controversy from the FCC, and something I hadn’t written about before. This time, the agency is accused of lying to its watchdog, Congress, and it involves a TV comedian. More than a year ago, during the height of the net neutrality debate, the FCC claimed its “comment filing system was subjected to a cyberattack,” according to The Verge. On May 7, 2017, our old friend John Oliver, who I’ve shown on this blog several times, asked Last Week Tonight “viewers to leave pro-net neutrality comments on the commission’s ‘Restoring Internet Freedom’ proceeding.” Oliver encouraged them
“to flood the FCC’s website with the use of memorable links like gofccyourself.com and justtellmeifimrelatedtoanazi.com. That night, the FCC’s filing system crashed.”
LANGUAGE: Viewer discretion advised.
The next morning, senior officials concluded, according to emails uncovered by the inspector general, “some external folks attempted to send high traffic in an attempt to tie-up the server.” Of course, the site was shut down by a surge of valid complaints. Several people disputed the unsubstantiated fabricated traffic claim in emails, but the DDoS theory was passed on to commissioners, like Pai, who told members of Congress (Fake News Alert!) what happened that evening was “classified as a non-traditional DDoS attack.” Now, the agency’s inspector general is reporting
“there was no distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, and this relaying of false information to Congress prompted a deeper investigation into whether senior officials at the FCC had broken the law.”
Turns out, an Oliver producer gave the FCC a “heads up” days before running the episode but it never responded, and the commission knew Oliver’s show had the power to move enough viewers to crash their system! According to that busy inspector general’s report, “We learned very quickly there was no analysis supporting the conclusion” that it was a DDoS attack. That’s when FCC officials started being investigated for allegedly breaking the law by providing false information to Congress. But the Justice Department decided not to prosecute.
Google search results for “Trump News” shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake News Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD. Fake CNN is prominent. Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out. Illegal? 96% of….
It also reported Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) wrote a formal letter to the Federal Trade Commission, released Thursday, asking it to “reconsider the competitive effects of Google’s conduct in search and digital advertising.” But it wasn’t just Google for Trump.
CNN is working frantically to find their “source.” Look hard because it doesn’t exist. Whatever was left of CNN’s credibility is now gone!
The hatred and extreme bias of me by @CNN has clouded their thinking and made them unable to function. But actually, as I have always said, this has been going on for a long time. Little Jeff Z has done a terrible job, his ratings suck, & AT&T should fire him to save credibility!
“I think what Google and what others are doing, if you look at what is going on with Twitter and if you look at what’s going on in Facebook, they better be careful because you can’t do that to people. …I think that Google and Twitter and Facebook, they are really treading on very, very troubled territory and they have to be careful.”
What’s going on at @CNN is happening, to different degrees, at other networks – with @NBCNews being the worst. The good news is that Andy Lack(y) is about to be fired(?) for incompetence, and much worse. When Lester Holt got caught fudging my tape on Russia, they were hurt badly!
And as you just read, the president also claimed NBC Nightly News anchor “Lester Holt got caught fudging” his tape on Russia, but the peacock network fought back and posted the video of Trump’s extended, unedited interview with Holt last year.
No wonder he hates the media!
Of course, I won’t completely defend the news media from allegations of dumbing down and doing anything for profit in too many cases. But I’d love to see some of these disagreements fought out in open court. I don’t care who sues who. I just want the evidence presented so the truth becomes obvious to everyone.
Wikipedia: Cohen at King’s Garden, Odense, Denmark, Aug. 17, 2013
Also, I want to know why all Lenny Cohen searches show Leonard Cohen the musician instead of me!
As for the big tech companies, Yahoo! Finance reports,
“Wednesday morning, the Senate Intelligence Committee will question Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Facebook chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg on their responses to foreign disinformation campaigns. The committee also invited Google CEO Sundar Pichai, but he declined to testify — another Google representative will testify in his place.
“Wednesday afternoon, the House Energy & Commerce Committee will quiz Dorsey on Twitter’s ‘algorithms and content monitoring.’”
NBC News has reported Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced changes to the platform’s news feed product since the data issue March, with “more posts from friends and family” and “less public content, including videos and other posts from publishers or businesses.” Now, NBC continues,
“The goal was to make Facebook more social with fewer commercial and product posts. Publishers ranging from big businesses to mommy bloggers are forced to post more content that they create personally, rather than sharing products or affiliate links.
“With these changes, some small publishers claim to see a massive downside.”
What I want to know is why in July, Zuckerberg decided Facebook would not ban Holocaust deniers! Fortune reported,
“Zuckerberg, who is Jewish, said he found Holocaust deniers ‘deeply offensive.’ Then he said, ‘but at the end of the day, I don’t believe that our platform should take that down because I think there are things that different people get wrong—I don’t think that they’re intentionally getting it wrong. It’s hard to impugn intent and to understand the intent.’”
So Holocaust deniers are simply uninformed? Are you kidding me, Mark? I would’ve hoped Sandberg, who grew up in North Miami Beach, whose brother David was my high school class valedictorian, would’ve set him straight. The Times of Israel reports Sandberg “said in an interview last year that, as a tech company, Facebook hires engineers — not reporters and journalists.” Personally, I find this would be one fight losing my job over. There has to be a line somewhere. Go far enough and you’re “just following orders” and we know what made that phrase so well known.
“I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that.” Then, he “reiterated a distinction he tried to draw in the interview: Posts that advocate violence will be taken down, but those that peddle misinformation will stay but ‘would lose the vast majority of its distribution in News Feed.’”
Sounds like he has lost the vast majority of his mind!
Also coming up this shortened Labor Day week, Morning Brew reports Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will “introduce a bill requiring major employers—like Amazon, Walmart, and McDonald’s—to cover the cost of government assistance programs its workers rely on…programs like food stamps, public housing, Medicaid, and more.” For years, there has been criticism years about the way Amazon pays and treats workers at its warehouses. According to The Washington Post, the Democratic Socialist said his goal
“is to force corporations to pay a living wage and curb about $150 billion in taxpayer dollars that go to funding federal assistance programs for low-wage workers each year. The bill … would impose a 100 percent tax on government benefits received by workers at companies with 500 or more employees. For example, if an Amazon employee receives $300 in food stamps, Amazon would be taxed $300.”
Sanders-021507-18335- 0004
Keep in mind, Amazon owner Jeff Bezos (another who spent years in Miami) also owns The Washington Post!
Two last things: The cemetery near Detroit finally fixed my grandfather’s grave. In June, it took hours to find the marker since it was buried under inches of dirt. Now, it has been raised and leveled.
And this weekend is the 3?th anniversary of my bar mitzvah. The party had an animal theme, of course, and all the kids got t-shirts like this. (Yes, I’m keeping the specific year as evergreen as the narrator says on that Philadelphia show The Goldbergs on purpose, even though there are readers who were there!)
So that’s about it. All the original pages I found have been updated.
Before I go, I also have to thank every one of you for more than 16,800 page views on this site! The numbers have risen exponentially recently, and I wonder why. Please let me know if there’s anything I should be doing more here.
Leave your comments in the section below, and don’t miss out. If you like what you read here, subscribe to CohenConnect.com with either your email address or WordPress account, and get a notice whenever I publish. I’m also available for writing/web contract work.
Two years of NFL ratings declines are over. This season, the National Football League improved its overall deliveries by five percent. In fact, 34 of the top 50 most-watched broadcasts were NFL games, and so were 61 of the top 100. Three of Fox’s “
FTVLive got a Sinclair internal document that laid out their plans for their 
Columnist Harry A. Jessell making predictions, including whether 
Poor Andy Cohen! (No relation.) 
A new round of 
The Justice Department reportedly decided not to ramp up an investigation into Comcast buying NBCUniversal, seven years ago. That’s even though President Trump had doubled-down on his criticism of the merger as anti-competitive. In a consent decree, Comcast agreed not to withhold NBC programming from rival cable companies or video streaming services, but that expired in September. The DOJ had said it was still monitoring Comcast a month earlier, in August. 
I’ve written about the FCC loosening rules and one that’s still around really bothers me when broken. So I emailed this letter to the Media Bureau, Policy Division, EEO Branch, where I’m sure somebody will read it when the government shutdown ends:
The government shutdown is having an impact on meteorologists. Meteorologist Brittney Merlot at KQDS in Duluth said, “As a meteorologist, an important reading we need this time of year is the water temperature. It helps us determine lake effect snow and also monitor lake ice formation.” But they’re not getting it from the Coast Guard. 
How 
September’s blog numbers were high with more than a thousand views, despite the fact I only published four posts. (I know. I have to do better on that. And I can’t complain about the time, but each takes many hours to get – hopefully – just right!)
Last December, the Federal Communications Commission under President Trump’s appointed chairman Ajit Pai repealed many 
But luckily, denying all Americans equal access to a free and open internet got very controversial. Friday, California lawmakers passed a bill what Variety called “the strongest government-mandated protections in the country” and it’s now on Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. Brown hasn’t said whether he’ll sign it. But the FCC ’s repeal forbids states from passing their own net neutrality rules. If Gov. Brown signs California’s bill, this could go to court. Pai, a former Verizon lawyer (think Fios), claims net neutrality stifled investment and burdened ISPs with regulation. Since June, ISPs have been able to make changes as long as they’re disclosed. So far, 
And as you just read, the president also claimed NBC Nightly News anchor “Lester Holt got caught fudging” his tape on Russia, but the peacock network fought back and 
