Anniversary means time to start something new

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

It’s Jan. 11 and that means today marks four years since my very first blog post at www.CohenConnect.com.

Back then, when I started, I was still in Florida.

I hadn’t yet moved to the Tri-Cities or returned to Philadelphia.

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.

feature pgn

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!

2019-01-11 pgn paper

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 this is an article called Facebook Flags, Censors NPR Report on Inflated Government School Shooting Statistics.

censorship from fee article
via FEE: The Foundation for Economic Education

The second this is an article called With ‘Napalm Girl,’ Facebook Humans (Not Algorithms) Struggle To Be Editor.

napalm girl from npr
Nick Ut/AP via NPR

The third this is an article called Did Facebook Flag the Declaration of Independence as Hate Speech?

declaration of independence from snopes
andrasgs / Shutterstock via Snopes

Today, I’m going to start adding a fourth “this.”

From now on, until articles disappear or there’s no need, you’ll see a link to an article called Facebook censors king cake babies for nudity. No kidding, brought to my attention by New Orleans meteorologist David Bernard (who many of you may remember from WFOR in Miami).

nude king cake babies from nola times picayune
NOLA.com | Times-Picayune

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:

How an Experimental Billion-Dollar Privacy Lawsuit Could Clobber Facebook

Amazon will win advertising dollars away from Facebook amid privacy concerns, a new survey suggests

Apple reportedly hired a major Facebook critic and former employee for its privacy team

Facebook privacy scandals get even worse

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Blogging better in 2019 after hitting 20,000 views in 2018

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

THANK YOU! I don’t know what else to say. There’s nothing special about hitting 20,000 blog page views except that it’s a big round number.

The blog is a hobby and will be four years old next month. It’s just a way for me to practice writing, learn better use of the web in blog and email situations, and connect and express myself without being a slave to Facebook, Twitter and the others. I’ve written about social media’s hacking and censoring issues here, here and here.

(On this special occasion, so you know what I’m referring to, I’m going to break what I’ve learned about “email situations” and give subscribers the entire post here in email form.)

FYI, here are the answers to four questions you may have:

  1. No, I haven’t made a cent off the blog. Instead, it costs me to have the domain without WordPress’ name in there, so it’s easier for everyone to remember. If you know me, then you know it’s not about the money. Maybe that’ll come someday.

  2. I’ve never refused to publish anyone’s comments on the blog. (WordPress does look for possible spammers, and I don’t see what’s there. If you post and don’t see it approved and online within a reasonable amount of time, then write to me on the Contact CohenConnect page.) In fact, I suggest you comment on the bottom of the blog site, rather than on Facebook, Twitter and the others.

  3. One reason I suggest that is it’s also a chance for you to respond as you wish, with fewer people seeing how you really feel. I can be honest and outspoken, and encourage you to be the same on issues you find important.

  4. Another is because I’m always *updating* blogs in the comments section. I’d guess the average post has a dozen updates underneath! (Go check!) If there’s something you’re interested in (say, net-neutrality), then comment. I always try to follow-up, which is something the mainstream media should do more often, rather than mainly trying to be first with a breaking story. Just this morning I posted this update with a link to The Hill that anyone who commented on Oct. 2 would’ve been made aware of:
  • “A HALF-MILLION MORE REASONS TO OVERTURN THIS! FCC Chairman Ajit Pai is acknowledging it’s a ‘fact’ that a half-million comments were submitted from Russian email addresses during the public comment period, ahead of the FCC’s net neutrality repeal last year.”
    The one thing I really ask is that you subscribe, so you’ll get an email whenever I post. You know it’s not often and you’ll never have to think about missing anything.

    Here’s to lessons learned and better work over the next 20,000!

    P.S. It’ll also be good to hear if there are any topics you’d like me to write about!

The case against us all paying for private schools

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

Several times a year, before elections, a man in Florida emails me about who to support in elections down there. The goal is to receive money (Isn’t that everyone’s?) for private schools. In this case, it’s Jewish religious schools. And that’s despite public schools being free for everyone – Jews too – and paid for with everybody’s tax dollars.

So don’t tell me there’s no alternative when public schools are required to bend over backwards to meet all students’ needs.

school student AThe first time I got the email, I wrote back, asking the nephrologist (a doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases) how he got my name and my email address. He was very polite and offered to take me off. I said it wasn’t necessary. I really wanted to read what he had to say. Information is power and I was a teacher for eight years, spending several lousy months at a Conservative Jewish day school.

The private school was the worst of my experiences and probably the least educational of the three schools where I taught, including public schools in two Florida counties.

Most of the parents whose children I taught at the religious school wanted special programs, and they wanted their children in those programs with people of the same culture. There’s absolutely no question in my mind.

I briefly compared the different teaching experiences when I wrote about why I left the field in general, on the eve of my Florida certification expiring in late June.

hochberg

 

religionsSo the problem I had, personally, was “class” and not religion. I actually liked listening to the religious lessons, from attending the second grade morning prayer service daily, to sitting in on the religious classes in my classroom, while planning and grading papers. I didn’t have to, but I know the religious teachers appreciated it, since my presence helped the children’s behavior.

Yes, many students had behavior issues, just like at any other school. The only differences I noticed were race and their families’ wealth.

From what I saw, the parents paid tuition in the five-figures and knew they could get away with anything. There’s a true saying that children learn in three ways: by “example, example, example.” In other words, they watched their parents (children notice more than many adults believe) and were raised to feel entitled.

Keep in mind, I’m writing about one school. It was a Conservative Jewish one, and Conservative (with a capital C) meant that stream of Judaism was started to “conserve” religious practices, about 100 years ago, that the older Reform movement had given up. So Conservative doesn’t mean the opposite of liberal. It allowed egalitarian seating and the use of microphones (electricity).

In fact, these days, Conservative is pretty much considered liberal since Reform has been bringing back some tradition. It has become the most popular in America, taking Conservative congregants who want shorter services, musical instruments during services and intermarriage (usually as long as the couple promises to raise Jewish children). There’s also paternal lineage (Reform considers children with a Jewish father Jewish, as long as they’re raised Jewish), usually more English during services, and absolutely no questions about egalitarianism or same-sex couples getting married.

Of course, whatever a Jewish person’s thoughts are, they have to be comfortable with the specific synagogue they attend and that includes the clergy, other congregants and financial obligations. A school setting is similar.

Orthodox schools vary greatly, but most separate the boys and girls into different classes at some point. I don’t know whether religious schools or any private schools require teachers to be certified by different states, or whether they have to teach the state’s curriculum or administer standardized tests, but I’m pretty sure it varies.

Grown-ups whose parents had them attend some Hasidic schools are now angry and feeling hopeless, since they know Jewish law and are good at Yiddish, but illiterate in English! There is hardly any secular instruction. See recent articles here, here, here and here, one of which says a New York state senator refused to sign off on the state budget unless Hasidic schools in and around NYC

“were given more autonomy over curricula.”

That’s despite the article saying most of the students

“are doomed to a life of struggle and poverty.”

Of course, religious schools are free to teach anti-gay hate, or that men and women have different roles, or that evolution is science fiction. That’s the case and if you don’t believe me, look at Congress or too many state legislatures!

So this morning, I got this email with the subject line,

“The Future of the Florida Jewish Community Will Be Decided November 6,”

since we Jews are always scared of the worst possibility.

email

Keep in mind, there are plenty of issues with Andrew Gillum but they involve separate subjects. Ron DeSantis is far right-wing. I’ve told plenty of people I’m happy to not have to choose in the Florida governor’s race.

Ron DeSantis (R) and Andrew Gillum (D)

For U.S. Senate, he endorsed the current two-term governor who has his work cut out for him with Hurricane Michael, and will for awhile. How he performs may change some voters’ minds, but the Florida Democratic Party claimed Rick Scott “oversaw the largest Medicare fraud in the nation’s history” and PolitiFact Florida rated the claim Mostly True. Still, he was elected twice since then. Senate incumbent Bill Nelson is running for his fourth term. As for the Iran deal, which I was also totally against, I don’t think the reference was appropriate for endorsements on a single-issue. The author basically said so when he mentioned his group’s mission at the end.

Gov. Rick Scott (R) and Sen. Bill Nelson (D)

Right: A liquor store in Panama City Beach around landfall.

I don’t know enough about the state attorney general candidate but am glad the current one is finally stepping down, and I’m impressed the endorsed CFO candidate is a Democrat, simply because they rarely get this guy’s recommendations. Every good cause should have bipartisan support, as party majorities rotate from one to the other, and back. The only variables are how often, and how wide the margin is.

I had some questions and wrote back, specifically about tax money from the public going to rabbis.

i wrote

And as he did some years ago, he politely answered. I honestly can’t challenge him since seems to know the subject and how to explain it, having studied it for years.

his answer

I can’t say I agree with laundering public tax money so it goes towards religion. That’s different that paying a religious organization for doing secular work.

Jeb Bush's Facebook page
from Jeb Bush’s Facebook page

This is the land with the legacy of Jeb Bush, who accelerated the number and importance of standardized tests more than anyone could imagine. He and his friendly legislature also found ways to get millions of dollars for money for school choice. (Sounds great, doesn’t it?) Count the ways you can take advantage, here.

And then there are charter schools that are public – paid for with money taken from school districts and required to administer state tests – but run by outsiders, often companies, out to make money. And studies have gone back and forth whether they get better results than traditional public schools, despite being able to turn away students, pretty much at their will. (That’s as if test scores are the only surefire way to judge education.)

The man who emailed represents a group called Jewish Leadership Coalition and its Facebook page says it’s “a non-for-profit 501(c)(4) Social Welfare Organization comprised of various Jewish leaders and organizations that have joined together to advocate for greater public funding for secular education in Jewish day schools.”fb jewish coalition

It gives a website that doesn’t seem to work, and doesn’t come up in searches, but this 2013 article announced that it started and who would benefit from the money.

ou jlc
https://www.ou.org/news/jewish_leadership_coalition/

The families whose children go to these schools tend to have more kids than the average American family, and they eat only kosher food. The costs add up. So do the number of students!

Other states with large Jewish populations have groups similar to the one above. This website helps parents in six states get government money to pay tuition that public schools don’t charge.

teach advocacy
https://teachadvocacy.org/

I understand parents with strong religious beliefs want their children brought up in their faith and to have extensive knowledge of it. That’s very difficult in a 24-hour day, where students receive a well-rounded education so they can become professionals who can contribute to society.

clock school

Outside of school these days, “free time” seems to be the “in” thing. Competing with that are all the extracurricular activities parents sign their children up to do, even at the school where I taught. It was a way to make money. Perhaps some of that has to go. Nobody can have it all.

money dollars

The rich make teacher unions look like the boogeyman, as you saw in the response to me, as if all they do is take money. Unions don’t want to protect bad teachers. (I’ve been a shop steward, but it wasn’t my idea.) They want good teachers and to see that those good teachers get the protections like a fair contract and the due process they deserve – to avoid being taken advantage of by bad administrators, not to mention parents who think they know more about education than the supposed experts.

In May, a religious friend conducted this Facebook poll:

Facebook poll

I think the principal was out of line and probably ruined his relationship with this “special needs” student, which may have been hard to build and would probably be harder to rebuild.

I responded.

Facebook response

The man who simply said “They listen to their parents” has a wife who is Director of Special Programs at – you guessed it – a (different) Jewish day school!

It’s natural in every financial transaction that the buyer wants to pay less, while the business (or school) wants more. There has to be a fair solution.

And for years, I’ve had what I consider the perfect solution.

I think public school teachers hired by the district should go to the private schools and teach English, math, science and social studies. Perhaps also electives like physical education, music and art. That would be half the day, and it would be paid for the same way public schools pay for educators and materials. Any tuition crisis would be instantly alleviated!

In my solution, the religious side could teach its material during the other half of the day. So half the school would study religion, and the other half would do secular studies, and then they’d switch!

half

What about religious holidays, like half the month of September and the entire eight days of Passover? The schedule could be adjusted. The public school teachers would volunteer to teach at these schools, especially those who take off for all the holidays anyway. It would be a blessing for the religious school parents to have their children in school while they prepare for the holidays, rather than watching over them because school is canceled, so their teachers could take off to prepare for their own families!

Also, the public school teachers would teach the public school curriculum with no interference, and students would take the same tests as the rest of the general population (without overkill for anybody). Plus, the students would be exposed to people who don’t all look, sound or believe like them.school crossing sign

I want to know what you think about this.

It would also eliminate the worst thing that happens: Parents not sending their children to public schools, but taking the scarce money devoted to education away from them. Which state’s legislature pays enough for quality schools? What school system has enough money to really do its job right? Who pays their teachers what they deserve as professionals? What district gives every one of its poorest students equal access to a quality education at their neighborhood school?

In February, USA Today published a list, ranking the states by the quality of their schools. (Eight of the top nine, and ten of the top 12, are states between the mid-Atlantic and New England! Take that for what it’s worth.) Florida ranks number 29 and the lead to the article on the Sunshine State is pretty grim:

“Florida’s public schools receive some of the lowest funding of any state school system in the country.”

Read the article for the state rankings (luckily all on one webpage) and the results of being too cheap when it comes to educating children, but there’s one I have to share: Florida is 48th out of 50 in the percentage of adults, ages 25-64, with incomes at or above the national median. In other words, you get what you pay for and this is pitiful! Imagine who in the U.S. is behind Florida, despite all the visitors who go there and spend money!

I’ll tell you that your child’s teacher is most important person in the school, besides the students, and every school in every state has good ones and bad ones. Hopefully those bad ones don’t last long but the good ones can be convinced to stay, and we all know money talks.

So do you think my compromise idea would work? Is it at least worth a try? How would you tweak it?

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

Where have you gone, Sasha Savitsky?

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

I don’t know why TV stations (and networks) allow mistakes to remain without corrections but it’s certainly a disservice to viewers and readers. One could also say Fake News and fraud.

feature sasha roseanne

Perhaps the Federal Communications Commission needs to get involved to keep them in line. Local stations use the public airwaves, are licensed to serve the public interest and certainly make money whether they serve the public interest or not.

But this time, the local stations’ mistake has been corrected – not that a lot of work went into it. (And not that it has to.)

Tuesday, after ABC canceled Roseanne, I questioned why at least three local Fox TV stations (KTTV-Los Angeles, WTVT-Tampa and WTXF-Philadelphia) used the phrase “Dungey told Fox News” at the end of their third paragraphs.

3 stations Roseanne Tuesday

I realized they all got it from the third paragraph of this FoxNews.com article, which they linked to at the bottom.

3 paragraphs Fox News Roseanne

So I tweeted and emailed author Sasha Savitsky, since it seemed the whole world used that quote from ABC Entertainment President Channing Dungey, and I couldn’t imagine her speaking exclusively to Fox News or any Fox entity, rather than ABC.

Tuesday’s 6:39pm tweet
Tuesday’s 7:10pm email

I spent the past 40 hours making sure to look for any tweet or email from Savitsky, but there were none. I’m sure folks at Fox saw the tweet but apparently did nothing about it.

Since my tweet, email and blog post, I believe her original story was updated in at least these ways:

Added: “Tuesday’s scheduled ‘Roseanne’ rerun was replaced with a rerun of ‘The Middle.’”

Added: “In an MSNBC town-hall clip tweeted out by ‘11th Hour with Brian Williams,’ Jarrett responded to the backlash noting Roseanne’s support of Donald Trump might be to blame for her inflammatory comments” along with this tweet:

(Click here for FTVLive’s Scott Jones on Joy Reid being included in the discussion.)

Then, at the bottom, I noticed a line that may have been there before:

shira bush reference

The name Shira Bush came up several times on FoxNews.com’s search engine, but I couldn’t find her actual name in an article. That’s when I turned to Google.

Bush was among many who’d tweeted out Dungey’s original statement and since she is a senior producer (not that the title means much at Fox, from my experience), I figured I’d try to get answers from her.

tweet to shira

The good news is all those local stations that used most of the original FoxNews.com story and teased more by going to the network’s story at the end started from scratch. They did so by copying and pasting an Associated Press article (and credited the A.P.) which certainly did not include the line, “Dungey told Fox News.”

But I really can’t say the stations did anything. As I’ve noted, one local Fox-owned station usually writes (or copies) an article and shares it with the others, who do nothing more than click a box to publish it on their own site. Like I explained below. I’m not so sure they even read it.

jan 27
https://cohenconnect.com/2018/01/27/facebook-twitter-and-fox-fox-x-14/

In the Roseanne case, I couldn’t tell which station did the work. Now, I’m going to guess it was WFLD in Chicago since they’re on channel 32 and that’s the source of the video. (Maybe because Roseanne was set in fictional Lanford, Illinois?)

http://www.fox29.com/news/roseanne-barr-quits-twitter-after-offensive-statements-about-valerie-jarrett-chelsea-clinton
http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/roseanne-barr-quits-twitter-after-offensive-statements-about-valerie-jarrett-chelsea-clinton

You’ll find these articles at http://www.fox29.com/news/roseanne-barr-quits-twitter-after-offensive-statements-about-valerie-jarrett-chelsea-clinton and http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/roseanne-barr-quits-twitter-after-offensive-statements-about-valerie-jarrett-chelsea-clinton.

Now, notice the similarities in those web addresses and these time stamps, keeping in mind Chicago is in the Central Time Zone.

Philadelphia
Chicago

So the article issue among possibly more than a dozen local Fox TV stations appears to be fixed, either through this blog’s publicity or simply updating the story with the A.P.’s version on the part of one station, probably Chicago, while nobody else lifted a finger since the change for them would’ve happened automatically.

Of course, there’s still no reason why the only two embedded tweets – from ABC Entertainment and actress Sara Gilbert – are at the bottom. Probably just bad writing. The ABC tweet could’ve gone almost anywhere, especially after the description of what the real Roseanne wrote, and Gilbert was actually mentioned at the end of a paragraph! But we can’t have it all, can we?

ending from Tuesday
Tuesday version…
end stations thurs article
… and Thursday version

 

 

 

 

 

 

And I’ll let you know if I ever hear from Sasha Savitsky and now Shira Bush, since the FoxNews.com network article still contains that exact original phrase. Let’s hope Shira responds better than Sasha!

So what about WTXF-Fox 29’s station history? Still untouched!

wtxf station history thursday

That’s despite my mention on Tuesday and FTVLive’s Scott Jones giving the station a piece of his mind.

ftvlive on wtxf station history
Scott’s thoughts from http://www.ftvlive.com/sqsp-test/2018/5/30/time-for-an-update
wtxf Station History
http://www.fox29.com/news/station-history
lenny tuesday wtxf station history commentary
My thoughts from Tuesday

What about KY3 (in Missouri, not Philadelphia) using a bio from a previous station for MMJ Jasmine Dell? Still untouched!

ky3 lazy
http://www.ky3.com/content/bios/415143313.html

And Dell’s personal website? I mentioned serious problems with it on Tuesday…

jasmine from Tuesday

… but nothing has changed!

I don’t know about you but I’m afraid for the future if these are the people in charge, making important decisions. Has me questioning stations’ and networks’ hiring practices, which are leading to misinformation campaigns.

Please, 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.

The lousiness of laziness and liars

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

I hate lazy people (and stupid ones, but that’s a blog for another time).

I can understand being sick. Last year, I showed up to work sick for three weeks since I wasn’t contagious and learned two lessons. First, I wasn’t appreciated and second, going to the doctor instead of assuming the bug would go away on its own would’ve gotten rid of it quicker.

feature roseanne barr valerie jarrett

Don’t know something? Then research or call! If you’re in the media, then your audience deserves better: all your effort to find the truth, wherever it is.

This morning, the author of one of my favorite blogs, FTVLive’s Scott Jones, showed how KYTV in Springfield, MO – News, Weather, and Sports in the Ozarks – copied an MMJ’s (multi-media journalist) biography from her old station’s website! I wonder if she did anything worth mentioning at that old station that could be included now.

ky3 lazy
http://www.ky3.com/content/bios/415143313.html

I just checked minutes before 9pm and it’s still there, more than 12 hours after most of the (TV) world found out. That mistake should not have been made. When I was Digital Media Manager, I wouldn’t publish a bio on the web until I approved it, and then the news director did the same.

But whatever the mistake is, it should be corrected or deleted as soon as possible. (Or “clarified,” as so many prefer to call errors, these days.) Does KY3, as it’s known and not to be confused with a Philadelphia station, need a Digital Media Manager?

I really wanted to give the MMJ a little credit since she probably publishes her news stories on a daily basis but not bios, which are not posted nor updated frequently. That’s why there’s a Digital Media Manager.

Unfortunately, Jasmine Dell’s resume on her blog doesn’t even include KY3! I’m not going to show you the link to download a Word copy of her resume which (not so bright) includes her name, complete address including apartment number; city, state and ZIP; and personal phone number and email address. Actually, I almost could since it’s all from when she worked at her former station, except the personal phone number and email address.

But you have to smile when her blog homepage contains the sentence,

“I am motivated to produce the best news results, media outcomes, and be successful when faced with challenging issues.”

Maybe she’s just slow.

What about WTXF-Fox 29 in Philadelphia, where I used to work? Its station history hasn’t been updated in YEARS! It even says so on top.

wtxf Station History
http://www.fox29.com/news/station-history

So don’t look for American Idol, Bones nor Glee on Fox29, despite what the station claims. They are wrong and you know it, especially with Idol, since the other two shows ended quietly, but Idol made news when it went to the competition.

quincy w parents
Quincy was such a gentleman when my parents visited

Good Day Philadelphia now starts 25 minutes before 4:25am.

Also, no 11pm news existed, nor The Q with Quincy Harris. Nah! Little oversights. They can’t be THAT important, despite the months planning each program!

Managers should know what they’re putting out on all platforms (not just over the air) since they’re responsible for it, and they should probably take a comprehensive look at all of their pages at least once a year and discuss whether the sitemap meets current needs.

bob kelly wtxf
Fun time with Bob Kelly

Also this morning, Good Day Philadelphia had a reporter at Field Day at Holy Cross Regional School. Traffic guy Bob Kelly, who I worked with twice, did “Kelly in the Classroom” segments and even some outdoors if they involved learning.

2018-05-29 field day lazy

Today, it was Jenn Fred instead and she must’ve done two segments that were nearly identical and both spectacular, since both appear on the homepage Top 5 under Good Day Philadelphia with nearly the same headline.

Yeah, Jenn. They really know how to show they care about your work!

And they couldn’t come up with five different stories for the Good Day part of the homepage? (Miss you! Feel free to comment below how we worked together on story selection, titles, etc., so we looked the best possible on whatever story you were working on everyday!)

Of course, the mother of all Fox laziness is exemplified in this article I brought you back on Jan. 27. Fourteen different stations used identical copy!

jan 27
https://cohenconnect.com/2018/01/27/facebook-twitter-and-fox-fox-x-14/

So let’s take a look at how Fox handled today’s Roseanne cancelation, in channel number order.

KTTV, Los Angeles
WTVT, Tampa
WTXF, Philadelphia

I’m not going to bother to look at any more stations, since the first three I examined were the same (and that includes L.A., where this was local news). I’ll bet the number goes to about 14, like with that last story.

Each one’s second paragraph read,

“‘Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show,’ (ABC Entertainment president Channing) Dungey told Fox News.”

Pardon me, but I’m going to claim B.S. The reason is this 2:01pm (ET) tweet from Robert Iger, Chairman and CEO ABC’s owner, The Walt Disney Company:

Do you notice Iger quoted Dungey’s same three words – abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent – and then his ending? Now, take a look at the top story on ABC Entertainment’s website. It’s actually from the Associated Press!

roseanne abc entertainment

Pardon me if I’m wrong, but those are the same exact words on the bottom of this part of the A.P. article ABC Entertainment carried, so why do the Fox station articles feel special with their attribution even though they end with the same phrase?

I’m referring to those three words – abhorrent, repugnant and inconsistent, and the ending that followed everywhere – shaded above. Was Fox News or anybody associated with the company’s stations given special access to ABC Entertainment’s president and able to add

“Dungey told Fox News?”

I don’t think so.

Is it because someone at Fox is a liar or stretched the truth? I think absolutely.

Now, let’s narrow down who the alleged liar or stretcher is. We’ll start by examining the end of each of those local Fox stations’ articles.

end roseanne local articles

I’m not sure the lead-in to the ABC tweet makes any sense following a reference to Roseanne’s, but click here for that article the stations link to, which is supposed to contain the full story.

Fox News Roseanne
http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/05/29/abc-cancels-roseanne-after-barrs-racist-tweet.html

It’s from FoxNews.com – the folks in New York who work with the network, rather than the stations. It’s longer but uses the same three words, with the same phrase that follows, in the third paragraph – as if the president of ABC Entertainment spoke specifically to Fox News, which I doubt is true.

3 paragraphs Fox News Roseanne

So I clicked Sasha Savitsky, the author credited with the FoxNews.com article (below its headline). Up came her Twitter account which I used to get to the bottom of my question about whether the president of ABC Entertainment spoke specifically to Fox News or anybody associated with the company’s stations, as she reported. Her work email address was pinned to the top of her Twitter account.

email sasha roseanne

Sasha Savitsky twitter

I emailed Sasha Savitsky at 7:10pm tonight after Tweeting her at 6:39pm. (Both are above). I don’t know her work schedule, but

  1. Her article says it was updated three hours ago. (Above, it said just one hour, but blogs can take longer to write than I estimate they will. In this case, I hadn’t imagined going digging like this over something that might seem minor to some, but the information may not be true and it was republished on dozens of “news” websites around the country.)
  2. She probably has access to her Twitter account at all times, since she works for a network and mobile technology is inexpensive.
  3. And I promise I’ll let you know as soon as Sasha gives me an update. (No white lies, stretches or exaggerations here!)

And Roseanne, among my thoughts concerning you is one I’ve shared four times on this blog this year alone (from the beginning: here, here, here and here). Only owners are entitled to the First Amendment. The rest of the public cannot use the public airwaves, even if they deserve to more than the license-holder (which is probably most of the time since corporations hold multiple licences – dozens – and their CEOs are not spread out around the country to ensure broadcasting for local audiences).

It’s after 9:20pm. No word from Sasha, Jasmine’s bio looks the same and Fox 29’s station history article is just as bad. So you’re up to date.

Take that from someone who just published his 100th blog and can’t imagine how many readers’ hit-lists he has made!

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Comey comes alive with tough talk against Trump

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

comey bookI didn’t know much about James Comey until about two years ago. Since then, I thought pretty highly of the guy and that really hasn’t changed.

Arguably, Comey was the big political story of the week – so far.

Today, his new book A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership was officially released and Sunday, it was ABC News’ 20/20 that got the first interview in the Comey media blitz to promote it.

One hour of George Stephanopoulos’ five hour interview aired Sunday night, at least in most places.

I say that because a TV news director friend in Virginia wrote about the nasty reception he and his team got because they had to break away to report on severe storms (a technical term, not just anybody’s opinion) and a tornado warning in the area. See and read for yourself how potentially saving lives, safety and property turned into a major inconvenience from some loudmouths. Always has, always will. Good thing this wasn’t a soap opera! I especially love the comment that people were able to watch the interview at another time on demand, or watch clips and commentary on any channel for days after.

shane

I have to say, his problem could’ve been worse. I don’t know what the CBS station there – his competition – did. They were carrying the Academy of Country Music Awards and this was Virginia!comey widener

Anyway, James Comey is scheduled to be in Philadelphia as part of Widener University’s Philadelphia Speakers Series at the Kimmel Center. That’s Oct. 1 at 8.

Widener’s bio says,

“Comey was appointed Deputy U.S. Attorney General by President George W. Bush. Appointed FBI Director in 2013 by President Obama, he served until 2017 when fired by President Trump amidst political storms regarding the investigations into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.”

Sounds like a serious career guy who had important supporters in both parties who promoted him to positions of increasing responsibility.

I was sick and asleep, and didn’t watch the Stephanopoulos-Comey interview. I saw some clips on Monday.

According to this ABCNews.com article that was published in the middle of the interview (10:22pm), everyone including Comey thought Hillary Clinton was going to win the election and become the nation’s first female president. He said he believes President “Obama, possibly Russian President Vladimir Putin and even” Donald Trump “thought Clinton was going to win, too.”

hillary clinton donald trump

Meanwhile, Comey was leading the investigation of Clinton’s handling of emails. ABC News reported, “He says that the assumption of a Clinton victory ‘must have’ influenced his actions in the email investigation, though he says not consciously.”

“I was operating in a world where Hillary Clinton was gonna beat Donald Trump. And so I’m sure that it was a factor,” Comey admitted. “Like I said, I don’t remember spelling it out, but it had to have been. That she’s gonna be elected president, and if I hide this from the American people, she’ll be illegitimate the moment she’s elected, the moment this comes out,” he told Stephanopoulos. That’s understandable and believable for someone in a tough position.

Official White House Photo

After the election and its surprising results to many, he said, “I heard the president [Obama] say, as I recount in the book, ‘Putin backed the wrong horse.’ That is, all of us were operating in a world where the polls were showing that Donald Trump had no chance.”

Comey added, “Obama’s remark was made in relation to when and if the intelligence community and White House should go public with their findings about Russian interference in the election.”

Specifically, “I think what the president meant by that was the Russian effort is wasted,” according to Comey, “and so why should we help them by announcing what they’re doing when their work is not gonna achieve their goal?”

Stephanopoulos mentioned an announcement like that

“would give people a reason to question the outcome of the election” and Comey agreed, since “Donald Trump was already saying, ‘If I lose, that means the system is rigged.’ And so if the Obama administration comes out saying, ‘The Russians are trying to help elect Donald Trump,’ that walks right into his narrative that’s, ‘See, I told ya,’ that the whole system is fixed and you can’t trust the American democratic process. And the Russians would have accomplished their goal.”

But he decided to keep the fact the FBI was investigating interactions between a “small number of Americans” from the Trump campaign and Russians private until months after the election.

hillary clinton book“That was actually not a hard call, given the sensitivity of the matter and that it was ongoing. We didn’t wanna tip anybody off,” he explained, adding President Obama didn’t want to be seen as having tipped the scale in Clinton’s favor.

Clinton wrote in her book What Happened, she “felt I’d been shivved” by Comey “three times over the final five months of the campaign.”

That’s not entirely true, considering Comey went on national TV less than five months before, specifically described what his FBI investigation found what Clinton had and had not done, and concluded she should not face charges.

Statement by FBI Director James B. Comey on the Investigation of Secretary Hillary Clinton’s Use of a Personal E-Mail System
July 5, 2016

“Although we did not find clear evidence that Secretary Clinton or her colleagues intended to violate laws governing the handling of classified information, there is evidence that they were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information. … None of these e-mails should have been on any kind of unclassified system, but their presence is especially concerning because all of these e-mails were housed on unclassified personal servers not even supported by full-time security staff, like those found at Departments and Agencies of the U.S. Government—or even with a commercial service like Gmail.”

Then, with the FBI’s recommendation to the Department of Justice:

“Although there is evidence of potential violations of the statutes regarding the handling of classified information, our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case. Prosecutors necessarily weigh a number of factors before bringing charges. There are obvious considerations, like the strength of the evidence, especially regarding intent. Responsible decisions also consider the context of a person’s actions, and how similar situations have been handled in the past.
“In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here.
“To be clear, this is not to suggest that in similar circumstances, a person who engaged in this activity would face no consequences. To the contrary, those individuals are often subject to security or administrative sanctions. But that is not what we are deciding now.”

Sounds great for the Democrats who were a shoo-in against Donald Trump, right? That was four months and three days before the election but may as well have been years before Americans went to the polls.

In fact, the Democratic National Convention here in Philadelphia wasn’t even held until July 25-28 and some Bernie Sanders supporters hadn’t given up, despite the delegate count including superdelegates who make up just under 15 percent of all Democratic convention delegates. And they were angry over the party machine including Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Donna Brazile.

Trump had just won the nomination a week earlier, July 18-21, at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. That was despite speculation everyone in the GOP against Trump would suddenly embrace somebody else.

But who could forget Comey coming out late on that Friday, just 11 days before the election?

According to Politico on Oct. 28, 2016 – you may even remember when you heard the news – “Democrats have soured on James Comey.

“In July, they praised the FBI director’s decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state. But on Friday, top party officials turned on Comey. …
“Comey sent a letter to several congressional leaders to inform them that the FBI had come across new emails pertinent to its Clinton investigation and would take additional steps to look into them, adding that the FBI did not yet know if the emails were significant and that he did not yet know when the additional review would be finished.
“The letter set off a political firestorm. And while Republicans pounced, Democrats fumed.”

Those new emails were from disgraced former Rep. Anthony Weiner’s computer. Weiner was married to Huma Abedin – then vice chair of Clinton’s campaign and before that, deputy chief of staff to the former Secretary of State.

Comey replied “I hope not” to Clinton’s assertion she’d be president if not for the release of the letter 11 days before the election “in which he announced that the FBI would be looking into more emails.”

“But the honest answer is, it wouldn’t change the way I think about it,” he added.

The next day, Politico reported,

“Hillary Clinton and her aides and allies forcefully criticized FBI Director James Comey .. demanding that he release more information about the bureau’s discovery of Clinton-related emails and criticizing him for bad timing.
“At a campaign rally in Daytona Beach, Fla., Clinton said it was ‘pretty strange’ for Comey to ‘put something like that out with such little information right before an election,’ adding: ‘In fact, it’s not just strange; it’s unprecedented and it is deeply troubling.’”

I don’t believe James Comey hated Hillary Clinton. She was the favorite in the Comey house.

He said in addition to his wife, Patrice, “At least my four daughters, probably all five of my kids, wanted Hillary Clinton to be the first woman president.”

He, himself, told Stephanopoulos he didn’t vote in that election and testified on Capitol Hill that year he’d “been a registered Republican for most of his adult life but wasn’t any longer.”

Comey told lawmakers,

“I’m trying to be outside of politics so [I] intentionally tried not to follow it a lot. And that I shouldn’t be choosing between the candidates. I’m trying to lead an institution that should be separate and other.”

And what about accusations Comey, as ABC News put it, “disclosed a great deal of information about the investigation into Clinton’s emails but did not immediately release information about the probe into some members of Trump’s team and their alleged contacts with Russians?”

He said there were fundamental differences in the cases.

“The Clinton email case … was public, and we were actually investigating the candidate herself; and the counterintelligence investigations trying to figure out whether a small group of people, not Donald Trump — we were not investigating Donald Trump. …
“I get the initial reaction. It seems inconsistent. But if you take the time and look at the posture of the two cases, they’re very, very different. And actually illustrate the rule that we’re following.”

Most of what I heard was Comey going off on the man who fired him last May, President Trump. (Did anybody expect forgiveness?!)

The firing happened while Comey was

“leading a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Trump’s advisers colluded with the Russian government to steer the outcome of the 2016 presidential election,” according to The New York Times. “The stunning development in Mr. Trump’s presidency raised the specter of political interference by a sitting president into an existing investigation by the nation’s leading law enforcement agency. It immediately ignited Democratic calls for a special counsel to lead the Russia inquiry.”

(See: Mueller, Robert and presidential mistakes.)

trump letter firing comey

The Times continued,

“Mr. Trump explained the firing by citing Mr. Comey’s handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server, even though the president was widely seen to have benefited politically from that inquiry and had once praised Mr. Comey for his “guts” in his pursuit of Mrs. Clinton during the campaign. …
“While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice (reportedly Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General, Rod Rosenstein) that you are not able to effectively lead the bureau,” Mr. Trump wrote to Comey.
“But,” the paper continued, “many in Washington, including veteran F.B.I. officers, saw a carefully choreographed effort by the president to create a pretense for a takedown of the president’s F.B.I. tormentor.”

Comey called Trump unfit to lead the nation, saying the president is “someone for whom truth is not a high value” and who treats women “like they’re pieces of meat.” (I didn’t hear a great deal of defense for the president.)

He touched on many of the Trump administration scandals.

The Huffington Post mentions the Russia dossier “compiled by a former British spy and alleged that footage exists of Trump watching prostitutes urinating in a Moscow hotel suite,” and the litany of sexual misconduct allegations.

The Post reported,

“Comey informed Trump about the allegations in private before his inauguration several times, and he writes in his book that Trump was obsessed with disproving them.”

Comey recalled the president asking, “Do I look like a guy who needs hookers?”

He said he wasn’t sure if the rumors were true,

“but said they left the president open to blackmail by the Russian government.
“I honestly never thought these words would come out of my mouth, but I don’t know whether the ― the ― current president of the United States was with prostitutes peeing on each other in Moscow in 2013. It’s possible, but I don’t know,” Comey said.

He said something similar when Stephanopoulos asked if he thought Russia had “something” on the president.

“I think it’s possible,” Comey said. “I don’t know. These are more words I never thought I’d utter about a president of the United States, but it’s possible.”

Other interview highlights chosen by The Huffington Post:

— In regards to Trump asking Comey to drop his investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, there was “certainly some evidence of obstruction of justice.”

— Comey said Trump was “of above average intelligence who’s tracking conversations and knows what’s going on.”

Comey summed it up.

“The challenge of this president is that he will stain everyone around him,” but said he’d still be working for the government had he not been removed.

“I was dreading it,” Comey said, noting he’d be “an unhappy F.B.I. director, but in a way proud of the organization and in my role in trying to protect it.”

According to TVNewser, “That took my breath away,” Stephanopoulos said of Comey’s retelling of events. “I thought I knew this story. Collectively we weren’t really ready for everything that he was getting ready to say.”

Republicans had their say about Comey and the interview. In fact, it was apparently on the president’s mind for days.

“White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later said Comey would “be forever known as a disgraced partisan hack that broke his sacred trust with the president of the United States.”

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel said in a statement,

“James Comey’s publicity tour reaffirms that his true higher loyalty is to himself . … The only thing worse than Comey’s history of misconduct is his willingness to say anything to sell books. He has no credibility and President Trump was right to follow through on the bipartisan calls for him to be fired.”

Who didn’t try to sell their books?

Comey responded in part, “3 presidents are in my book: 2 help illustrate the values at the heart of ethical leadership; 1 serves as a counterpoint.”

A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership has already sold close to 200,000 copies.

By the way, President Bush’s brother Jeb – the former Florida governor who lost to Trump in the primaries and caucuses – will be speaking as part of the same Widener University Philadelphia Speakers Series on Jan. 28, 2019, at 8.

P.S. Condolences to the Bush family on the loss of former first lady Barbara Bush today

and to the

loved ones of Jennifer Riordan, killed in today’s Southwest Airlines tragedy here in Philadelphia.

Sad Face Emoji

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Lessons on addressing, our government’s gift to you!

Posted on by Lenny Cohen

usps0

On Facebook? You’re probably signed up for a lesson on mailing a letter, paid for by the U.S. government, like the one above.

usps logo

I was a little out of it, last Thursday, told I was sounding stuffy, so I didn’t do much other than read. Part of that time was on Facebook rather than anything too important, although not entirely so.

I saw a sponsored ad from the U.S. Postal Service on how to mail a letter. (I thought the people in charge these days want smaller government and less spending.)

Donald Trump squeeze money

Their busiest time of the year is coming up. If you’re reading on the blog, you can see the countdown dates until Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas — depending on the type of media you’re using (desktop, tablet or phone).

(Did you know Black Friday is an actual holiday in 24 states?)

countdowns

Hundreds of millions of Americans will be mailing cards and gifts, despite more and more substituting email for cards and shipping for gifts.

postal truck

We all want what we worked on and paid for to be delivered in a timely manner. I’m still waiting for a card from my mother from September that hasn’t arrived. It wasn’t her fault. She actually took it to the post office to make sure the correct amount of postage was on the envelope, and it had a return sticker.

money dollars cents

On the other hand, I’ve lived in my condo for more than a year and still get mail intended for previous residents of both sexes with various first and last names. Just last month, hundreds of our electric bills were returned to the management company!

That’s in addition to the latest problem that just started over the past few weeks: getting mail for 2501 and 2701 rather than 2601, with the four numbers after the ZIP code wrong.

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mail2

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That’s definitely human delivery error and should be eliminated, and I know that because the material was sent by professional companies with addresses typed in.

I’m sure the USPS wants to be considered as good by Santa (track him here) and the public, and stay in business for another year, so they apparently paid Facebook for advertising to teach readers the correct way to address an envelope, and which pitfalls to avoid.

Are any of these new to you? (I’ll let the experts tell you in their own words, since they paid for the opportunity.)

usps article

I know some people try to be fancy and cute, and that hurts the postal service’s performance. Did you know you should always address an envelope using capital letters, but not to use any punctuation except in the ZIP plus 4?

Maybe not.

Perhaps the USPS should have mailed every household and business a piece of paper with their suggestions, like they print and deliver when they hold food drives, because not everyone is on Facebook and not everyone is going to click their ad. I’m not sure about the price difference, and it would certainly mean more trees cut down, but it would also cut down on late and lost mail, which is also a waste.

ups fedex

Yes, there are private competitors that should be keeping the USPS on its toes to bring us better performance.

I’ve only rarely used the companies, like UPS and FedEx, mostly for mortgage paperwork when the envelopes were prepaid. I’m not sure they were any better than the post office and I had to go looking for a special box on the street to send them, rather than this.

us post office mailboxes

Choice is good. It should lower prices and improve service. But I for one would hate to see any, especially the USPS, go away.

usps old new

First, anyone who messes with your mailed letters and packages violates federal law and should go to jail. I’m not sure if the same applies to competitors like UPS and FedEx.

usps pkg

Second, there are post offices and mailboxes everywhere. Who doesn’t have a mailbox?

In my neighborhood, I keep hearing complaints from people in rowhomes outside my building about how their big packages with goods they ordered were stolen. That’s crooks disrupting the system.

And walking by, I see people’s notes on their doors about how packages should be delivered to the convenience store down the street in case nobody is home! That’s asking delivery people make two stops rather than one — slowing the process for everyone and making them work harder — and who says they have to, considering where their items were addressed?

usps amazon

And we want the post office to succeed, and deliver mail at least six days a week, so more workers can keep their jobs.

post office worker cartoon

But it can do better.

Ben Franklin Parkway
Philadelphia Int’l Airport
Independence Hall
Philadelphia City Hall

They closed many of Philadelphia’s post offices for the same hours for days throughout the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 2016. It was very inconvenient and I can’t come up with a good excuse. I’m sure the workers got paid. Most other government employees worked extra hard and got to collect overtime.

 

(No, John Kerry had already replaced the eventual presidential nominee as Secretary of State! As you well know, Hillary Clinton got nothing.)

hillary clinton

At least they lowered the price of a stamp by a penny so it’s an even better deal than it was before.

forever stamps

So do your part and address your items correctly.

One last word of advice: Don’t procrastinate. Give whatever company you use enough time to get your package to its correct destination in time. Click here for Holiday Shipping Deadlines. (They really only mean Christmas.)

Christmas Hanukkah

Good luck, happy holidays, and drive safely, and I mean that starting with Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving

Oh wait. Look what just came up!

one last picture

Again, thanks to our tax money, and on the very edge of appropriateness for the USPS…

holiday staffing

So don’t be surprised if more government money in the form of “tips” makes its way to Facebook.