Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]
Add Reply
Blog and Media Roundup - Sunday, Feb 15, 2009; News Roundup
Topic Started: Feb 15 2009, 05:06 AM (366 Views)
abb
Member Avatar

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1097775.cfm

City leaders warn residents of program cuts
BY KEITH UPCHURCH : The Herald-Sun
kupchurch@heraldsun.com
Feb 15, 2009

DURHAM -- Caffeine wasn't the only thing that perked up citizens at Saturday morning's "Coffee with Council" at the Irwin R. Holmes Sr. Recreation Center.

Warnings that the city will have millions of dollars less than it needs to pay for all its programs and services in the next fiscal year got people's attention. But along with the warnings came assurances from city leaders that citizens will have many chances to weigh in on the budget and help set spending priorities before the budget is adopted.

The meeting drew about 100 people to the Alston Avenue center, including City Council members, City Manager Tom Bonfield and other city administrators, who tried to help citizens understand that the tough economy will likely mean cuts to some programs and services.

"City departments have been asked to submit plans on how they'll reduce their budget," said city budget director Bertha Johnson. "We know the budget cannot be balanced without program cuts."

"We're committed to doing street projects, street resurfacing, but we also will need additional funding to do what we need to do in that area as well," she said.

Johnson said "it's going to be really tough" to balance the budget. "We know that revenues aren't likely to increase. We also know that we cannot deplete our savings to balance the budget, because that's not prudent, and we also have to follow state guidelines."

"We want to develop a budget that reflects the priorities of the community as a whole," Johnson said. "We need to have our citizens informed. The community must understand our financial constraints, and that's why we need to know what the highest priorities are in the community."

One man in the audience wanted to know if police services might be cut.

In response, Johnson said the city plans to cut only low-priority services and programs.

Others in the audience said they wanted the city to:

* Pave sidewalks on Cook Road near Hillside High School.

* Improve Riddle and Fayetteville roads. A petition is being circulated to get 1,000 signatures to give to the council.

* Keep the city's Office on Youth.

* Preserve after-school programs operated through the city Parks and Recreation Department.

* Open a community center in Parkwood, perhaps by having the city buy the building used by the library when it moves to another location.

In response to that suggestion, Councilman Howard Clement said merging city and county governments might make projects like that more feasible.

"I'm going to say something that's going to cause a bomb to drop," Clement said. "That Parkwood question is why Durham and Durham County need to merge. No question. Because the city can't solve all those problems out there by ourselves. But with the combined resources of Durham County, we can.

"This is a year of change," Clement said. "And this is a year we believe change is going to be good for everybody. This is an opportunity for us to bring change that we believe in to Durham. We only need one government to solve the kind of concerns that the gentleman from Parkwood just raised."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/durham/4-1097774.cfm

Bonfield wants citizens' input in budgeting
BY KEITH UPCHURCH : The Herald-Sun
kupchurch@heraldsun.com
Feb 15, 2009

DURHAM -- City Manager Tom Bonfield says it's especially important this year to bring citizens into the process of setting spending priorities as the city budget is developed.

"This year, with the challenging budget we know we're going to face, it's really important that citizens be involved to help shape the priorities," Bonfield said in an interview before the "Coffee with Council" gathering on Saturday morning at Irwin R. Holmes Sr. Recreation Center on Alston Avenue.

"This year, we're trying a little bit different approach in terms of the coffees with council. We're spending some time this morning letting the citizens know what the budget situation looks like. We're hoping that by educating them and showing them the parameters of what we're dealing with, it can be something they can better understand, and the whole process can be more meaningful to shape priorities."

Bonfield said the upcoming budget "promises to be the most challenging" of his career. "It is a new paradigm, and we're all in this together."

He said the expected cuts in city programs are bound to disappoint some people.

"I don't think there's any question about that," he said. "I think that every program, every service that the city provides, touches someone."

But with a shortfall somewhere between $25 million and $40 million, he said, some cuts will have to be made.

"We're not in a position to print more money or borrow money for operating purposes, so we know what's going to happen. But we hope that by having citizens involved in the process, we can help them understand that we can't do it all, but most importantly, have them help shape priorities."

Councilman Howard Clement agreed that the Saturday meetings between citizens and council members are important.

"I've been part of them since 1997, and we certainly get citizen input," Clement said. "That's what we need. In the budget discussions, we want to hear what the people think.

"This is going to be a tough year," Clement said. "But we just have to face up and deal with it."
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/opinion/hsedits/56-1094836.cfm

For city, no more business as usual
Feb 15, 2009

Along with other governments from local to federal, the city of Durham is facing the most difficult budget deliberations in memory. For the 2009 - 2010 budget year, the city is expecting a $24 million to $40 million shortfall out of a $350 million budget.

This is no time for business as usual, although we're not sure that message has penetrated the psyches of City Council members or city staff.

City Manager Tom Bonfield has asked officials for ideas of where the cuts will come, but few have been forthcoming.

That will need to change as the reality of the situation sinks in. Too often, the prevailing government attitude has been that every job is always safe and that no program, once begun, can ever be reduced or excised. That attitude must come to an end this year.

In a way, it's an opportunity to do something politicians always talk about but never seem to actually do -- find cost savings by ferreting out inefficiencies.

A place to start is with the City's Human Relations Department, a vestige of the civil rights era that once performed a valid purpose. But now, the seven-member department and its $650,000 budget seem a great inefficiency. The domestic violence court was added to its responsibilities this year, probably to give it something real to do.

Its other duties, taken from the city's Web site, involve vague ideas about fostering race relations and diversity. That's laudable, but there are better, less expensive ways to achieve the same thing.

We also question whether a closed-up bridge over N.C. 147 really needs replaced, although it's in the works. Most of the $2 million price tag will come from the state, with the city chipping in at least $200,0000. But it's all real money. The bridge is intended to connect to a rail transit terminal that wasn't built and to a future trail system that also isn't there. Neither argument seems compelling. The bridge was closed in 1995 because it became a haven for crime.

It should also go without saying, but in this economic climate, annual raises should be frozen. There should be no expectation of cost of living raises with unemployment rising and budget deficits looming. The private sector is squeezing every dollar, and it's time for government to do the same.

These are just a few ideas. The City Council will need many more to meet the fiscal challenges ahead.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.johnincarolina.com/

Chronicle A Bit Critical of Duke’s Secrecy

Duke's President Brodhead’s never said why he refused to meet with the lacrosse parents on March 25, 2006. And The Chronicle's never asked why.

Brodhead, Duke's trustees, and almost all its faculty, including all but one or two of the Law School faculty, were publicly silent when racists outside and within the Durham County Courthouse shouted threats, including death threats, at then Duke student Reade Seligmann. TC never asked why.

For that matter, TC's never explained its own editorial silence when the racists attacked Seligmann.

TC has never asked Brodhead or BOT chair Bob Steel whether Duke did in fact secretly release FERPA-protected student records to now disbarred former Durham DA Mike Nifong.

Or whether, if it did that, Duke then engaged in a charade with Nifong to deceive the students, their parents and the court into believing Duke had not already released the records?

But perhaps TC will soon ask those questions and others that most members of the Duke community want answers to.

I say that because today TC’s editorial board addresses serious matters involving trustee and senior administrator's decision-making, particularly the secrecy that typically shrouds it.

Here’s some of what TC’s editorial board says - - -

Last weekend some current and former members of the Board of Trustees came to the University for a closed-door meeting about the recession and how the University can best respond to it in the future.

The public knows almost nothing specific about the meeting. Representatives-including Chair Robert Steel, Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, and Executive Vice President Tallman Trask-acknowledged to The Chronicle that the meeting occurred and that its focus was the University's financial situation.

But as to who was there, what specifically was discussed, why the meeting was necessary and what the University's general strategy will be in the recession-mum's the word.

And although it is encouraging that the University appears to be acting in a proactive manner, it is disconcerting that the information coming from University administrators was so vague and that the meeting itself was seemingly secret. …

As the editorial progresses TC gets increasingly wobbly and closes with - - -

In the end, it is understandable that, in order to function effectively, a board of trustees at a private university will need to keep many matters secret. But there are some subjects-and this is one of them-about which a board of trustees should make every effort to inform the many people in the Duke community who are invested in the University and whose livelihood depends on it.

No one is demanding the minutes of last weekend's meeting: a coherent and public statement of strategy would do just fine.

The entire editorial’s here.

_________________________________________________

My comments:

Today the TC editorial board took a few small steps toward what let's hope is now its goal of questioning the excessive secrecy that’s characterized the Steel/Brodhead running of Duke since at least Spring 2006.

When Duke won’t explain its silence when an angry crowd at the edge of East Campus waved a CASTRATE banner and went after Duke students, it’s shamefully secretive.

We are now at a point such that when a person asks, “Do you think Brodhead and Steel OK’ed the release of that FERPA information?”, people can only shrug and reply: “We’ll just have to wait for discovery in those suits.”

But it shouldn’t literally take federal lawsuits to get an honest answer to that question and many others the Brodhead/Steel leadership team is covering up on.

Let’s hope TC's small steps today are soon followed by bigger ones.

Request to the TC editorial board: Please tell us why editor Chelsea Allison recused herself from today’s editorial.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.johnincarolina.com/

Saturday, February 14, 2009
N&O's McClatchy Co. slides closer to the edge

Considering their company's share price has crashed from the mid-70s to penny stock status in less than five years, execs at McClatchy Co., the news chain which owns the liberal/leftist Raleigh News & Observer, are sure upbeat.

But information-technology exec Alan Mutter, a former journalist, isn’t at all upbeat about McClatchy which he sees as likely to default on its debt obligations:

The publishers most likely to be unable to satisfy the terms of their debt are MediaNews Group and Morris Publishing, according to the latest ratings from Moody’s Investors Services, a company hired by borrowers to gauge their likely ability to repay their debt. . . .

After those two publishers, the newspaper company next most likely to default is McClatchy, according to Standard and Poor’s, a competitor of Moody’s.

S&P, which uses a different nomenclature than Moody’s, scores MNI’s debt at CCC, which is one notch higher than the MediaNews and Morris ratings. A CCC rating indicates a 48.3% chance of default.

Although the bond rating agencies usually come out fairly closely on a company’s rating, McClatchy gets a far better score from Moody’s than from S&P. Moody’s rates MNI at Ba2, which indicates only a 7.5% chance of default. McClatchy has renegotiated the terms of loans due in the second half of this year.

While Moody’s believes the company to be able to comply with the new terms of the obligations, the ratings by S&P and Fitch, yet a third rating service, suggest a considerably higher level of doubt. . . .

Mutter’s entire post’s here.

A week or so ago JinC Regular Ken in Dallas commented:

There is zero chance that McClathy will ever be able to repay the $2 billion in debt they have accumulated. The markets have already confirmed this with their share price.

They'll hang on for a while like a beggar waiting for the last handout of the day. Then they'll disappear silently into the night.

Good riddance.

With each passing month, despite the “rah-rahs” from McClatchy execs and news editors, sensible people are recognizing the obvious: McClatchy’s headed for bankruptcy.

In case anyone's wondering why Ken and many of us would say good riddance to the kind of journalism McClatchy & the N&O have foisted on the public, here's an Anon comment I've taken from the same thread as Ken's comments:

Never forget the N&O's inflammatory coverage of the lacrosse players in 2006. The newspaper libeled the falsely accused players as well as the entire team and cast the lacrosse players in a false light.

To this day, publisher Quarles has not apologized for the infamous Khanna-Blythe story or for other Nifong-driven coverage. Shame.



Hat tip: McClatchy Watch

Posted by JWM at 6:36 PM 2 comments
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.newsobserver.com/102/story/1406552.html


Published: Feb 15, 2009 12:30 AM
Modified: Feb 15, 2009 04:42 AM
Marchers Lavonia Allison and Donald Hughes send a message to the governor.
Staff Photos by Corey Lowenstein
UNC students, from left, Korsica Lassiter, Tiffany Whiting and Kennetra Irby help start the Historic Thousands march.
Buy Photo

Marchers call for budget justice
Historic Thousands event seeks protection for the poor as lawmakers prepare to cut state spending
Leah Friedman, Staff Writer Comment on this story
RALEIGH - Before the group marched from Chavis Park to the Legislative Building in downtown Raleigh on Saturday, it practiced its chants.

"Education, not incarceration!"

"Bail out the people, not the banks!"

"No justice, no peace!"

Then the group, estimated in the low thousands, walked down Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for the third annual Historic Thousands on Jones Street march, sponsored by the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

This year, the NAACP's centennial year, the organization is pushing a 14-point agenda in North Carolina that includes funding for schools, a "living wage" for workers and health care for all. The march was meant to call attention to these issues.

Standing on the steps of the Legislative Building, the Rev. William Barber, president of the NAACP's North Carolina chapter, called on state leaders not to cut funding for those in need as they plan a budget in these hard economic times. The predicted cuts in next year's budget may be as much as $2 billion because the recession has brought with it a steep decline in the state's tax revenue.

The state is required to balance its budget, which could mean reducing next year's spending by 10 percent.

"This is not the time to hurt those already hurting," Barber said. "We don't fund equitably, so we can't cut equitably."

The day started out cold and drizzly, but Jessica Murrell and Richard Berryman of Durham bundled up their 9-month-old daughter, Kennedy, to march. They wanted to set an example for their daughter by attending the event.

"If you grow up in a family that stands up for what they believe in, then you'll do the same" as an adult, said Murrell, who is president of the Young Democrats of Durham County.

Allie Peebles was among those sitting at the rally at Chavis Park, which kicked off the march. The 82-year-old did not walk with the others, but she has been a member of the NAACP for 31 years and wanted to support her organization.

'It could affect me'

Peebles, a retired English teacher who taught black children in Wake County's segregated schools, says she has always wanted what's best for the children, which is why she supports the 14-point agenda.

Kristi Wandle of Cary came to the march by herself to support the group's platform.

"I agree with giving money to social programs as opposed to sending it overseas to kill people," she said.

Maria Turner attended the march to bring attention to the layoffs at her workplace, Freightliner, in Cleveland, N.C.

"I don't think it's right, and it could affect me later," she said.

The marchers chanted their way up Fayetteville Street toward the state government complex, but they really got fired up when Barber took the stage at the end of the march.

"The media asks me why 14 points and not just focus on one," he said. He replied that "freedom is not spelled with one letter; justice is not spelled with one letter; hope is not spelled with one letter; right is not spelled with one letter."

Barber said that as long as there are poor children in this state, people without decent housing, innocent black men in jail and immigrants denied rights, "we will raise our voices because silence would mean approval."

At the end of his speech, he instructed his listeners to take out their cell phones and send the governor the following e-mail at governor.office@nc.gov.

"Dear Governor and members of the General Assembly," he dictated. "Don't balance the budget on the backs of the poor."

Then he told them: "Send it."

leah.friedman@newsobserver.com or 919-829-4546
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1406506.html


Published: Feb 15, 2009 12:30 AM
Modified: Feb 15, 2009 12:45 AM

Death penalty filing details Carson shooting
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer Comment on this story
GREENSBORO - Demario Atwater, one of two suspects charged with murdering Eve Carson, shot the UNC-Chapel Hill student body with a shotgun after she had already been hit by four small-caliber bullets, federal prosecutors alleged in court documents filed late Friday.

The details are included in the federal prosecutors' notice of their plans to seek the death penalty in their federal carjacking and kidnapping case against the 22-year-old suspect.

Atwater also has been charged with first-degree murder in state courts, and Orange County District Attorney Jim Woodall is likewise seeking the death penalty in that case.

Laurence Alvin Lovette, 18, also is charged with first-degree murder in the case. He does not face the death penalty because he was 17, a juvenile, last March when Carson was found shot to death in Chapel Hill about a mile from the UNC campus.

In their document Friday, prosecutors accused Atwater of enlisting the aid of a juvenile in committing the crimes they have charged, but Lovette was not named.

Federal prosecutors brought charges against Atwater in October, nearly six months after the state charges.

They have have accused him of carjacking, weapons and kidnapping violations that could bring the death penalty if done during the commission of a homicide.

In mid-January, several days before the transfer of presidential power, Michael B. Mukasey, the departing U.S. attorney general, issued his decision to seek the death penalty in the federal charges against Atwater.

Late last month, a federal grand jury indicted Atwater on the federal kidnapping charge, claiming he used automated teller machines, telephones and interstate and public roads in the commission of the offense.

The grand jury's revised indictment, entered in court Jan. 30, also lists some of the aggravating factors that prosecutors plan to use in their push for the death penalty.

The homicide was committed in such an "especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner" that it "involved torture and serious physical abuse to the victim," the indictment says.

The document filed Friday mentions torture, but does not elaborate.

Investigators have said that Atwater and Lovette kidnapped Carson early in the morning March 5 and forced her to withdraw $1,400 from automated teller machines before they shot her with a .25-caliber handgun and a sawed-off shotgun.

Atwater is in federal custody, but no decision has been made on whether the state or federal case would be tried first.

anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or 919-932-8741
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_men/DI/2008-09/news/021409_newduke

New Look Duke Beats Bucknell 11-7

By Jesse Baumgartner | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
Ned Crotty had five assists as Duke entered the post-Danowski/Greer era.
Photo: Joe Rogate

DURHAM, N.C. – There’s no doubt this is a different Duke team.

No one loses Matt Danowski and Zack Greer without feeling significant effects – specifically on the offensive end of the field, of course.

And Saturday’s matchup against No. 20 Bucknell at Koskinen Stadium provided a good test for No. 8 Duke as they try to carve out a new identity after entering the season with question marks.

The early verdict? Some highs, some lows, but in the end a solid 11-7 victory to start 2009 on the right foot and provide a base from which to build.

“We had our good times and our bad times. Both offensively and defensively,” senior attackman Ned Crotty said. “Offensively we had some times where we really looked great, we were moving the ball well, great in transition. And then we had other times where, (as) basic problems as getting the ball around.”

Many of those good times came from Crotty, who has switched from a mid to attack and figures to be key for the Blue Devils if they are to make some noise this year. He may be new to the position, but that wasn’t evident for much of Saturday as he piled up five assists and a goal.

“We know we think what he could become, but we don’t know what he could become,” Duke coach John Danowski said. “If he does play like he played today, I would be delighted. But we don’t try to put pressure on any one individual.”

Still, Crotty said the coach has looked to him to fill Matt Danowski’s shoes, and he’s talked with the former Duke star after recent scrimmages as he grows into his new role.

Crotty wasn’t perfect, but he provided plenty of highlights while pacing his squad’s attack. It was two particular assists that stood out the most, the first coming to open the game’s scoring when the senior held the ball behind the net and found Steve Schoeffel just to the left of the goal.

But he upstaged that in the second period with the Blue Devils ahead 4-2. Standing well out from the goal and to the right, Crotty fired a gorgeous crossing pass straight through the heart of the Bucknell defense to Max Quinzani (the leading returning scorer) for a picture-perfect goal to put Duke up three.

The Blue Devils ended the game with seven different scorers to total their 11 goals (about four worse than last season’s 15.2 average), but there were plenty of turnovers mixed in between that will have to be ironed out as the season continues.

“I don’t know,” Crotty said when asked how long forming an offensive identity would take.
“I think it kind of works to our advantage. We don’t know what we are yet – neither do other teams … for so long we always had Matt and Zack, so that was always a constant we had every year. And this is the first year we don’t have that. So this is our first step to really figuring out who’s who and how we’re going to play together, and hopefully the sooner the better. But it’s still a work in progress.”

And as the offense tries to find its rhythm, there will definitely be an added emphasis on defense. Crotty even said he expects some tighter games at the beginning of the season.
The unit came up huge in the second half during two three-minute unreleasable illegal equipment penalties on senior Sam Payton – giving up two goals during the first and none during the second while the offense scored a short-handed goal.

Though they had trouble with Bison senior Joe Mele (five goals), the defense never allowed Bucknell to tie the game and benefitted from seven saves by goalkeeper Rob Schroeder.

“Being able to hold things down, because we don’t have the offensive power anymore, is going to be one of our focuses,” senior defenseman Parker McKee said. “We’ve always stressed defense, and this year it’s a little more.”

Meanwhile the offense will look to grow from Saturday, because while their first post-Danowski/Greer game was a win, there is certainly work to be done.

“I just thought that we didn’t value the ball as well as I would have liked,” coach John Danowski said. “And I thought that we made some pretty neat looks and some pretty neat plays, but I thought just overall that, you know it will take time – no doubt about it. But this is who we are now, and I’m OK with that. I’m more than OK with that.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/newsitem.aspx?id=100109

Detroit Free Press Wins Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism for “A Mayor in Crisis”
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Staff writers Jim Schaefer and M.L. Elrick and their colleagues at the Detroit Free Press are winners of the 2008 Worth Bingham Prize for Investigative Journalism for their comprehensive series “A Mayor in Crisis.” During their yearlong investigation, the reporters chronicled in detail the lies, false testimony and insider dealings that led to the downfall of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his top aide Christine Beatty, who together attempted to bury a lawsuit settlement that threatened to expose their romantic affair.

The Bingham Prize will be presented at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard in Cambridge, Mass., on March 5, 2009. The Nieman Foundation is the new administrator of the prize and will present the $20,000 award for the first time this year. Previously, the prize was presented during the National Press Foundation’s annual awards dinner in Washington.

snip
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
abb
Member Avatar

http://www.johnincarolina.com/

Sunday, February 15, 2009
Did This Commenter Mean To Hurt The N&O?

There’s a comment on the thread of N&O Still Sells Photos of Bogus Swim Story I want to share with you.

I’m not sure whether the Anon commenter really means what’s said or whether the Anon is trying to make the McClatchy Co.’s liberal/leftist Raleigh N&O and its defenders appear very indifferent to the truth and willing to treat N&O readers as dummies.

Read this post, make your decision and let me know what you think.

Anon’s in italics; I’m in plain.

Anon begins - - -

Hellooooo, hellooo? Stupid people? Can you hear me? Good. Now, listen up. I'll type very slowly so you can follow along:

Typing “very slowly” for us “tupid people” here. Well, let's see what comes next.

This story never ran in the paper. It is an Associated Press that was included on the paper's web site. The story was not edited by anyone besides the AP.

By “never ran in the paper” Anon means never ran in the N&O’s print edition.

I never said it did. It ran in the N&O’s online edition, newsobserver.com, to which I linked.

Whether in the print or online editions, the N&O claims stories that appear at either or both places as ones it's published.

No one disputes the N&O published an AP story. I identified it as such. That doesn’t relieve the N&O of its responsibility for publishing the story.

As to whether the story “was not edited by anyone besides the AP,” do you think our slow-typing Anon meant to say: “not edited by anyone at the N&O?”

I do. And that leads to these questions:

If no one at the N&O at least read what was coming off the AP wire, what does that say about the N&O’s editorial standards?

Does the N&O just pass on and publish at newsobserver.com or in its print edition whatever comes off the AP's notoriously unreliable wire?

Anon seems to be saying, “Yes.”

I hope that’s not the case. But people at the N&O tell me it does happen there.

The N&O, like practically every other newspaper, gives readers full access to the AP's world and nation report. It's a reader service, and god forbid the paper should be accused of covering up anything.

Anon doesn’t explain why the N&O is not giving readers “full access” to the correction the AP was forced to issue once the Figge fraud was exposed.

The AP’s correction’s nowhere on the page where the N&O reports the bogus AP story and a sidebar hyping McClatchy copyrighted photos of the bogus “event” along with a “Buy” button that takes readers to The N&O Photo Store where they can order framed photos of Figge and her “event."

Information, as they says, wants to be free. Of course, with free information, you get what you pay for. Had you purchased the print edition of the paper, editors would have scrutinized this story and perhaps caught the AP's imbecility.

Interesting that now Anon is taking shots not at us “stupid people” but at the N&O and the AP.

According to Anon we get “free information” at newsobserver.com so we should not expect it to be as reliable as the N&O for which we pay.

Ouch! What a smackdown of newsobserver.com.

Who would have thought newsobserver.com is so cheesy if Anon had not slowly typed things out for us?

But does Anon have it right? Is newsobserver.com really less trustworthy than the print N&O?

I find that hard to believe.

Folks, below is the rest Anon’s comment. I may post again on the comment.

In closing, I’ll tell you – no kidding - I’m not sure whether Anon is just sincere, condescending and confused; or whether Anon is really angry at the N&O and/or McClatchy and decided: “I’ll post this comment at JinC and it will get John to expose how shameless and bad the N&O’s been on this story; something John hasn’t really done so far.

I’ve reported; you decide.

Now the last words go to Anon who explains capitalism and then provides some healthy living tips.

The picture is for sale because one can buy any picture on the paper's web site. This is called capitalism. If you wish to purchase and frame a picture of the hoax swimmer to remind yourself daily of the mainstream media's incompetence and perfidy, knock yourself out.

And finally, get out and get some fresh air. The weather is beautiful today. You all need more of a life.

Posted by JWM at 6:52 PM 1 comments
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
DealsFor.me - The best sales, coupons, and discounts for you
« Previous Topic · DUKE LACROSSE - Liestoppers · Next Topic »
Add Reply