So, something of a hodgepodge ‘n’ mop-up post today, starting with a continuation of yesterday’s subject.
Inspired by Lindy West’s story, it seems Twitter has grown a conscience. Better late than never, I say, and I hope other platforms follow suit.
A chapter of the Troll story I didn’t go into yesterday: As the fax gave way to the web, Media Watch of course moved online, and as easy blogging platforms took over from hand-coded HTML, they went in that direction, too. But in a very strange way: Rich Reynolds and whatever company he had didn’t post on one blog, or two, or three or four or even five. Rather, they scooped up Blogspot URLs willy-nilly, and to this day there are many out there with one or two or zero items on them, ghost ships sailing the online seas. A fellow blogger tried to count them all 10 years ago, but I’m sure there are many more. Certainly, he missed two: Why We Hate Nancy Nall and That Stupid Bitch, Nancy Nall.
Go ahead, click. He’s not making any money off this shit.
The second one gives you a pretty fine example of what I put up with all those years, but it’s the first one that I want to talk about. It features a picture of me that he stole from here (which makes all that wankery in the other one about my abuse of Fair Use that much more, y’know, ironic). I recall I posted it next to a photo of Leonardo DiCaprio making the exact same scowly face, as something of a joke.
I had some time on my hands the day I discovered it, and I sent an email to Google, which owns Blogspot, and asked them to send a takedown notice for copyright infringement. I don’t remember what happened, but I think it went down for a while, then back up. I sent another email to Google, and received a robo-reply encouraging me to take up my case with the blog operator. Nothing doing. The whole experience was like standing on the sidewalk outside the Willis Tower, yelling at someone in the higher-level executive suites.
One of my many frustrations with online publishing is this sort of bullshit, in which Google sits around on its vast piles of money and anyone with a complaint is encouraged to fill out a form and then go pound sand. There was literally no way to contact anyone in whatever division controls Blogspot, at least not without a lawyer. And it simply wasn’t that important to me. (I did find a high-ranking Google executive on Facebook and messaged him my complaint, signing off with “Don’t be evil!”)
A guiding principle of newspaper publishing, when I came up through it, was responsibility for your product. It’s the reason we had so many high-flying ethical codes about conflicts of interest and fairness and the like, and it’s why you couldn’t drop f-bombs in stories. It’s why Ben Bradlee said, “We stand by our story” and it’s – you get the picture. But today, you can offer a product, free of charge, that allows crazy people to rant and rave, to copy and paste and steal others’ work, to post photos of naked 19-year-olds made up to look 13, etc. And if anyone objects? Hey, we’re just the messenger!
I know there is a legal philosophy behind this, but it still chaps my ass.
And with that, let’s close this chapter and move on to cheerier matters, shall we?
This is delightful: Since the Charlie Hebdo massacre, an old wingnut rumor has been dusted off, that Dearborn, Detroit’s heavily Muslim-populated suburb, is actually under Sharia law. A local wag — one of those terms I learned in the newspaper business — who happens to be a gay Buddhist, went around with a friend taking photos of Dearborn Sharia in action and they were published on the Huffington Post. (My favorite is the Honeybaked Ham store.)
One of these lunatics claimed Detroit police never go into Dearborn, because Sharia. My old colleague Jack Lessenberry has another idea:
It’s true that Detroit police never go to Dearborn. However, that might be because Dearborn is a separate city and has its own police force.
On a darker note, you might have to do some googling to understand the Wisconsin Idea — basically, it’s the crazy notion that Wisconsin institutions of higher learning should serve the people of the state that supports them — but Scott Walker is no fan of it. And how did the governor’s administration want the Wisconsin Idea rewritten? Do you even need to ask?
…(In) the proposed budget he released Tuesday, the governor made the UW System’s mission to “meet the state’s workforce needs.” He also proposed striking language about public service and improving the human condition, and deleting the phrase: “Basic to every purpose of the system is the search for truth.”
Hey, he never graduated. WHO NEEDS COLLEGE, ANYWAY? It’s times like this I’m glad Charles Pierce is blogging.
OK, that’s enough for this week. Enjoy the weekend, all. I’ll be working for at least part of it, but it’ll keep me out of trouble, I hope.
adrianne said on February 6, 2015 at 7:09 am
Thank God Charlie Pierce is around to chronicle the doings of Scott Walker, or as he likes to call him, the manager for the wholly owned Koch Bros. subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin. Deb M., how can Wisconsin citizens get rid of this guy? I know, he can run for president of the United States! Huzzah!
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David C. said on February 6, 2015 at 7:21 am
A simple-minded sycophant? No, no, no, I don’t see that. I feel more like a complex-minded sycophant myself.
The Sharia law no-go zone is just a lather, rinse, and repeat of what I’ve hear around here that there are certain neighborhoods in Milwaukee where white people aren’t allowed. Once in a while I go to a kosher butcher in one of the no-go neighborhoods. The African-American guy from the barber shop next door is always sitting on a chair on the sidewalk and always says “shalom”. Which I think is awfully nice. Just like everyone else I meet when I’m down there.
Walker really stepped in it this time. He tried yesterday to say it was just a mistake. Then the e-mail trail showing the University objecting and his administration telling them to more or less get stuffed was leaked. He so wants to become President so he can get the hell out of Wisconsin so he can blame the coming crash on Brainless Becky, our former teevee spokesmodel lite-gov. He is so in over his head. If Candy Crowley can trip him up, what’s he going to do then the big guns come out. Sucks to be you Snotty.
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David C. said on February 6, 2015 at 7:24 am
Even better than that Adrianne, he’s the goggle-eyed homunculus.
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beb said on February 6, 2015 at 8:36 am
The obsession with Sharia Law is plain envy. The Christian right wants to do everything forbidden by Sharia except in the name of their God, even if their God, the God of Abraham is also the God of Moslems.
Sometimes I think Charles Pierce has an app on his computer that auto-completes ‘Scott Walker’ with ‘the goggle-eyed homunculus managing the wholly owned Koch Bros. subsidiary formerly known as the state of Wisconsin.’ And ‘Rick Santorum’ with ‘ -have I mention what a dick he is -‘ At times it gets on my nerves because it makes his every column seem like a massive piece of cut-and-paste.
It’s hard to imagine someone who has done so much to anger the working class could get re-elected governor or be the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Of course he didn’t run on re-writing the Wisconsin public eduction charter just as Michigan’s Rick Snyder never ran as a ‘Right-To-Work’ zealot He wqaited until he was in office before changing his stripes.
#gamergate demonstrated that women are trolled more than men, worse then men and with more credible threats of violence then men. It’s enough to make you think the world would be a better place without men.
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alex said on February 6, 2015 at 8:50 am
Wow, hadn’t seen those two Rich Reynolds sites before, although he created such a strange catacomb I’m sure it’s possible to miss a whole lot, besides the point of any of it.
As a media critic he never had anything substantive to say. It was mostly about peoples’ looks, plus the occasional tidbit of workplace twaddle teased out of the objects of his flattery. And in the absence of such gossip, he made up his own, as he did when he alleged that Nancy had been fired from her job.
He also fancied himself a critic of art and literature, and was equally amateurish at it.
Then there were UFOs, one of the few things for which he had any reverence.
And then there was a site called the Wilde Society, which trafficked in anti-gay propaganda. What was hysterically funny — and I wish I could find a link to it — was his defense of same-sex attraction as something separate and apart from being gay, along with an invitation to any handsome young stud who has same-sex attractions but isn’t gay to come live with Rich and his house of boys.
One of the local papers once ran a feature story about the liver-spotted old loon, who seemed to suffer from delusions of grandeur but was quite dodgy under any sort of serious questioning.
I should shut up about now before he tries to pull another ruse on my employer. I have no compunction about making the accusation. He named me by name in one of his online screeds about people goofing off on the internet during business hours shortly before he contacted my employer, to whom it was obvious this was a sick and twisted act of personal animus.
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Dave said on February 6, 2015 at 9:05 am
Didn’t he also throw a complete fit and threaten to sue anyone and everyone who started blogs about Fort Wayne media, politics, whatever, during the heyday of everyone and their sibling starting up a blog? My poor memory, who was the young man who started up a Fort Wayne blog and then went on to much richer things?
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alex said on February 6, 2015 at 9:11 am
Nathan Gotsch. And here’s what he had to say about it.
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Basset said on February 6, 2015 at 9:18 am
“Stupid bitch,” huh? Wear those “hormonal whiskers” proudly… I’d pay the $82.50 and come back for more.
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Deborah said on February 6, 2015 at 9:34 am
Wow Nancy, your troll is one sick individual. Really sad.
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Kirk said on February 6, 2015 at 9:34 am
Geez, Nancy, I’d really like to meet this guy. I’d take a lot of down-home Amurrican pleasure in attempting to cave in his face with a sucker punch.
And Walker isn’t a college grad? Here I thought that George Wallace’s roommate in hell, James Rhodes, was the last U.S. gubnor who hadn’t earned a sheepskin. I’ve probably missed a couple of others over the decades.
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Icarus said on February 6, 2015 at 10:14 am
Wow, this Rich Reynold really has an unhealthy obsession with you. Are you sure you didn’t turn him down for a date or something?
Sorry that you had to deal with him all those years. I’m sure I would have tracked him down and punched him out. you are a much better person than I.
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Bitter Scribe said on February 6, 2015 at 10:40 am
What kills me about ISPs etc. is that they want to be treated as content suppliers for regulatory purposes, but when it comes to taking the least responsibility for that content, suddenly it’s, Oh no, we’re common carriers like the phone company.
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adrianne said on February 6, 2015 at 1:24 pm
beb, I actually enjoy Charlie Pierce’s off-repeated descriptions of these morons, including Sarah Palin, Princess Dumbass of the North Woods. Like Gail Collins including the story of Mitt and the dog strapped to the roof in every column she wrote about him. Repetition can be good at describing these morons.
And speaking of morons: Credit Politico for tracking down the King in King v. Burwell case on the ACA. We find out the plaintiffs are 60-something Obama haters. Quelle surprise!
Here’s the link: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/face-of-supreme-court-case-hates-obamacare-and-obama-too-114953.html?hp=t4_r
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Sue said on February 6, 2015 at 1:49 pm
Scott Walker must be perplexed that the methods that worked so well against second grade teachers and high school technology instructors aren’t working against college professors.
And I believe I’ve said it here before – it will take interest from outside the state to bring that bastard down. Run, Scotty, run.
More later.
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Suzanne said on February 6, 2015 at 2:23 pm
I have a friend who lives in Kansas. Political climate very similar to Wisconsin and, increasingly, Indiana. My friend is no far left Socialist sort by any stretch and she says it’s bad. Of course, Kansas gov was re-elected as I’m sure Pence will be. I can’t remember ever being so frustrated by politics nor so afraid of the mentality of a group of politicians.
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Judybusy said on February 6, 2015 at 2:29 pm
I am surprised that the West Bank of the U of MN campus hasn’t been accused of implementing Sharia law with its dense Somali population. Also, sadly, about 20 young men from here have joined Al Shabab in Somalia. My congressperson, Keith Ellison, posted about the issue of stopping remittances to Somalia for fear that it’s actually being laundered to fund terrorism: http://tinyurl.com/lnevvs2
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coozledad said on February 6, 2015 at 2:37 pm
This shit bubbling back to the surface is one explanation for the Saudis upping oil production.
http://fortressamerica.gawker.com/the-case-that-the-saudis-did-9-11-explained-1683728623/+maxread
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Bob (not Greene) said on February 6, 2015 at 2:43 pm
Nancy, that Rich Reynolds is one twisted, sorry prick. I wonder how it must be for Rich Reynolds to live with himself, knowing he’s such a repulsive toad. Unless the guy’s absolutely incapable of self-reflection or shame, it’s got to be soul crushing to know you’re such a sniveling sociopath.
The part I really don’t understand is the hopelessly insecure dopes who flatter this guy in order to get on his good side. How do they live with themselves knowing what this guy does to other people? What a society of assholes. Fuck all of them.
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Hattie said on February 6, 2015 at 4:28 pm
You smelled badly, eh? I hope you have improved your smelling skills!
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MichaelG said on February 6, 2015 at 5:22 pm
Sorry, but I had to laugh at Reynolds’ screed. It tickled my funny bone. You can tell us, Nance, how many times did you steal his lunch? Including his Snickers bar?
Did I see somewhere that Walker, in addition to attempting to destroy the university, has endorsed a plan to commit $220 Million in public funds toward building a stadium in Milwaukee?
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brian stouder said on February 6, 2015 at 5:23 pm
Well, it looks like Brian Williams is beginning to spiral –
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/nbc-launches-probe-into-brian-williamss-statements/2015/02/06/b9d57eb4-ae2b-11e4-9c91-e9d2f9fde644_story.html?wpisrc=nl_evening&wpmm=1
I like the guy, and I believe anyone can, over time, lose specificity in their recollections.
If I was in a helicopter in a war-zone that was forced to land because of ground-fire, and then endured a sandstorm – I can see mis-stating that it was the airship I was in that took a hit. The results were all the same, owing to the hit.
But this looks like the end of his career
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Dexter said on February 6, 2015 at 5:39 pm
Perhaps not, brian… http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-brian-williams-iraq-war-20150206-story.html
That blog entry was a real corker…I admit I laughed when he described us commenters in unflattering terms.
He also stole a Don Martin cartoon, or else a cartoonist forged the Don Martin style. Martin, of course, drew many Mad Magazine characters, including Joe Fonebone. http://media.dcentertainment.com/sites/default/files/styles/blog-latest-blocks-440×330/public/field/image/MAD-Magazine-Don-Martin-In-The-Park-Thumb_53fe4f420a0152.08556881.jpg?itok=Xg0jx8td
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Joe K said on February 6, 2015 at 5:50 pm
Nancy, hell I have been called way more vulgar things on this here blog and like you I just ignore the troll, figure it’s not worth my effort. I understand most don’t agree with the way I look at politics and that’s fine when they disagree, everyone is entiteld to there opinion, some just don’t like to here others is all.
Dexter, Don Martin also drew Joe Fonebone friend Bester Festertester.
Pilot Joe
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coozledad said on February 6, 2015 at 6:08 pm
Aww, the victim card. Apparently that’s the next one in the deck after “I fuck your wife heheh.”
Self pity is the last refuge of the shartknuckle.
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alex said on February 6, 2015 at 6:24 pm
Looks like the content of Why We Hate Nancy Nall has been taken down. This was after it had been tweaked earlier in the day. Rich evidently thought better of “Because she’s ugly” and instead tried to impugn her character by defending his attempted assassinations of it. And now pffft into the ether. Along with the purloined picture.
Joe, you’ve never been the victim of ad hoc attacks here. When people get pissed at you it’s because you’ve gone out of your way to provoke them.
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brian stouder said on February 6, 2015 at 6:29 pm
Dexter, I hope you’re right and I’m wrong, about Mr Williams.
But note that your linked story is from yesterday, and today’s news is that Williams also mis-stated his personal experience in New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina
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coozledad said on February 6, 2015 at 6:30 pm
And speaking of semiconciousness erupting into self-parodying trollery, Cheeto swollen Kapo Jonah Goldberg has just taken another yellow tinted shit on history and literacy:
Christianity, even in its most terrible days, even under the most corrupt popes, even during the most unjustifiable wars, was indisputably a force for the improvement of man.
That may be the most fucked up statement I’ve ever read, next to “I am a Contra” or “I am not a crook.”
http://alicublog.blogspot.com/2015/02/next-week-pinochet-was-no-angel-but-at.html
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alex said on February 6, 2015 at 7:00 pm
Purloined cartoon’s now vanished from That Stupid Bitch, Nancy Nall. This may be as close it it gets to an apology. Or maybe Google got off its ass today for real. Wouldn’t that be something?
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brian stouder said on February 6, 2015 at 7:50 pm
Alex, what an odd link.
Leaving aside what that guy has to say about our proprietress, the fellow also despises US – the folks in the cheap seats! See below, with emphasis added:
Nancy Nall is a failed newspaper journalist, fired from The News-Sentinel in Fort Wayne, Indiana a few years back, and now frittering away her middle-age with inane posts at her blog, where a gaggle of simple-minded sycophants indulge her grotesque self-aggrandizing.
and
For us, she is a talented writer — we’ll give her that — who will die in a few years, never having accomplished anything worthwhile, because she has traded journalism for a few kisses on her ass from a clot of people who are as dumb-minded as a field of cows. (We’ll be providing some examples, from her blog — Fair Use — to show what mental defectives she has garnered as followers of her daily tripe.)
Huh!
Well, I may indeed be a simple-minded, mental-defective, bovine sycophant – but, by thunder!, I’m perfectly happy!!
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Bob (not Greene) said on February 6, 2015 at 8:03 pm
Brian, it’s the sour grapes of a loser who knows he would be shunned by polite society. It drips with inadequacy.
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Sherri said on February 6, 2015 at 8:07 pm
Damn, Brian, you made me click!
But now that I have, I discovered that if you follow the “About” link, that Reynolds declares an interest in Quantum Physics. Of course he does; all nutcases do. He’s probably got a theory that proves Einstein wrong, too.
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coozledad said on February 6, 2015 at 8:11 pm
His style seems to be based on the Hollywood cumrag-tatlers of the late 50’s. Like something out of Ellroy, but bereft of entertainment value.
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susan said on February 6, 2015 at 9:07 pm
Fear not, the Goggle-eyed Homunculus is gonna lose! He was heartily endorsed by the Toe-Sucker hisself, Dick Morris. Big fail. Haw!
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MichaelG said on February 6, 2015 at 10:01 pm
Sorry, Brian. 99% of the time I’ll agree with you but not here. People can “lose specificity in their recollections”. That simply doesn’t happen in these kinds of situations. That didn’t happen here. Mr Williams has, to put it gently, padded his story. He’s guilty and has pissed any credibility he might have had straight out the window. I have no time and no tolerance for these kinds of people. NBC will swallow their pride and their integrity and let things go. What a world.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 6, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Sycophants? Us’ns? This gang couldn’t be sycophantic even if we all reason to try and fake it. Nancy Nall’s commenters are here to argue, debate, polemicize, and share recipes — but sycophantic?
(Seriously, that guy would have me thinking about filing a CPO, but it would just be more grist for his millstone of a brain.)
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Dexter said on February 6, 2015 at 10:49 pm
Brian Williams was in New Orleans in September, 2005, and he reported from a ninth ward street while standing in deep water , and there were plenty of dead bodies in the waters. However, he mis-stated his location, as no bodies were floating past French Quarter hotels; that was simply where he was staying, and when he consolidated the tale by saying he looked out of his French Quarter hotel and saw bodies floating by…well…that was simply a distortion of the truth. I don’t give a damn, though; I love his constant stream of dog stories…another one last night.
As for directing hatred, I still can’t stand that Connecticut US Senator, Blumenthal, who five years ago told a group of veterans he understood them because, after all, he had been in the jungles of Vietnam fighting the Cong. Except the fact is he chased down five deferments and then secured a spot in the elite National Guard, where he picked up trash on Jersey beaches for a couple weeks a summer for a few years. The Guard was not deployed to Vietnam back then. I can’t stand that lying sonuvabitch…and he’s a big advocate for veterans benefits, too, but I really hate him.
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Sue said on February 6, 2015 at 10:59 pm
Dick Morris might love Scott Walker, but I think the jury’s out as far as the national media is concerned. It’s subtle but it’s there. Has anyone noticed that no matter what the story is, the accompanying photo of Scooter generally has one of his more pronounced Dweebus Maximus expressions?
I think they’re laughing at him behind his back.
And sorry to change the subject, but the Vermont Latin motto story is hilarious.
http://gawker.com/nativist-idiots-mistake-latin-for-spanish-totally-lose-1684021434
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Dave said on February 6, 2015 at 11:16 pm
“This is America, not Latin America”.
That comment alone was worth clicking on Sue’s link.
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ROGirl said on February 7, 2015 at 7:04 am
Maybe a good therapist could help RR dig around in his tortured psyche to reveal why he spews out hatred and vitriol to strangers and then bestows his approval on those who appease him.
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Connie said on February 7, 2015 at 7:27 am
Don’t miss today’s LitTle House on the Prairie Google doodle.
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coozledad said on February 7, 2015 at 8:21 am
Concentration camps in the US? aw hell gnaw!
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/02/rape-dungeon-allegations-emerge-in-abuse-report-on-floridas-notorious-dozier-school-for-boys/
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beb said on February 7, 2015 at 12:03 pm
I’m not a fan of Brian Williams. His delivery comes across as a flat monotone with no spaces between words or sentences. In any case he’s not a reporter, he’s a news reader and the network ought to stop sending him to scenes of hot stories read news from. Then we wouldn’t have to contend with whether he was actually shot at, or literally saw floating bodies in New Orleans or got hit in the eye by the flying cork from a champagne bottle one of his servants opened.
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Jolene said on February 7, 2015 at 12:34 pm
On TV this week: a PBS Frontline report based on Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal. First broadcast on Tuesday evening. Check your local listings for time and rebroadcasts later in the week.
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brian stouder said on February 7, 2015 at 5:05 pm
beb – and the latest news is Williams is taking a ‘leave of absence’….so the downward spiral his career is in has become steeper.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/brian-williams-stepping-away-nbc-771102
I’ve always liked the guy, although to be honest I have almost no use for network tv anchors anymore, anyway.
I watch old-fashioned local newscasts, and then satellite/cable news headlines and punditry, and that’s usually it.
The tv news anchors I grew up watching consisted of Walter Cronkite (“Uncle Wally”, as my mom referred to him) and Eric Sevareid – personages who you could add to Mount Rushmore, really – and who no one can ever really replace.
Whatever else Bryan Williams might be inaccurate or dishonest about, still he’s been closer to “the elephant” than I ever have (or ever will be)
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MichaelG said on February 7, 2015 at 6:46 pm
We’ll see how long Williams stays away. For now it’s not scheduled to be very long:
“I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days”
Anybody remember Adm. Jeremy Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations who took his own life over an issue arising from his wearing of unauthorized decorations? He was outed by David Hackworth, a man who truly earned every decoration he wore.
Sorry if I seem to be a hardliner on this issue. This is something that is very close to me and very personal. It’s a matter of honor and I believe it goes straight to the worth of a man. I have no use for a man who does this kind of thing. Unfortunately, honor seems to be a rapidly vanishing concept.
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alex said on February 7, 2015 at 7:36 pm
Brian Williams’ crimes seem trifling in light of Lara Logan’s, who’s back on CBS after bungling Benghazigate, a monster largely of her own creation. She’s the pampered pet of the news organization Sharyl Atkinson would have us believe is a bigger liar than the one that just hired her away.
Honor isn’t a rapidly vanishing concept in the new biz. It’s been gone.
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brian stouder said on February 7, 2015 at 8:13 pm
MichaelG, back in the day I was a subscriber to Proceedings Magazine, and I recall being thrown for a loop when Boorda killed himself.
But to be clear, Williams is not a military man, he’s a talking-head. Indeed, the “news” that a talking-head thinks he’s the center of the universe isn’t really news at all, yes?
To be clear, I agree with Dex and MichaelG that people who embellish their “war stories” are contemptible.
The line of argument I was pursuing was the soft-clothes/civilian one (for which I’m completely qualified!), and not the honor-bound/duty-bound military one (about which I am profoundly ignorant!)
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Deborah said on February 7, 2015 at 10:44 pm
I dunno, I always thought Brian Williams was a little smarmy.
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Jolene said on February 7, 2015 at 11:41 pm
I don’t want to defend Williams exactly, but it’s worth reading he articles linked below. Memory–even memory for vivid, high-impact events–is not as reliable as we like to think it is.
http://thinkprogress.org/culture/2015/02/05/3620050/possible-misremember-getting-shot-sky-scientific-exploration/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2015/02/05/the-science-behind-brian-williams-mortifying-memory-flub/?tid=trending_strip_6
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Jolene said on February 7, 2015 at 11:49 pm
I’ve always kind of liked Williams, though I never have understood why he or anyone else should be paid so much to read a teleprompter. Of course, I know that is responsible for assembling the newscast as well, but I still don’t see hy we pay these people so much.
Anyway, with regard to smarminess, I saw a tweet that said, “If Brian Williams didn’t like being an entertainer so much, he might not have gotten himself into this mess.” A good observation, I think.
I don’t believe he’s flat out lying–deceiving people on purpose–but the combination of the natural unreliability of memory and his propensity to be a showman have brought him low–or so it seems to me.
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Dexter said on February 8, 2015 at 12:29 am
Since Brian Williams is the managing editor of NBC Nightly News, I’ll believe him when he says he is taking himself off their news for a few days and turning it over to Lester Holt.
He’s just going to stick his head in the sand and hope to hell a huge story breaks out to deflect public interest in him.
Mostly, he’s embarrassed, for himself and maybe a tad for Allison, who had anal-lingus performed on her in that dreadful show “Girls”. I heard about it second hand…I abhor that show.
http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2015/01/12/brian-williams-weighs-in-on-daughters-televised-analingus-no-animals-were-harmed/
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Dexter said on February 8, 2015 at 1:02 am
…and here’s something I find interesting: When Brian Williams got the anchor job, it was reported that he would start at $17 million per year, which was supposed to be the average anchor pay then. I just read a news item stating that Williams just inked a deal for $2 mil per year for five years.
Other sites report he makes from $10 mil to $13 mil.
I guess we’ll never know, but when Al Roker is bringing in $8 mil per year, I’d guess Williams is making substantially more than Al.
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beb said on February 8, 2015 at 1:13 pm
Brian Williams’ pay: This is kind of like baseball salaries. Five million a year for an above average player seems normal, even starting players get around a million a year. As someone making around a twentieth of that, that sounds like an insane amount of money “for playing a kids game.” But at the end of the day i find myself thinking that I’d rather see some pitching getting $45 million over seven years than all that money going to the club’s owners. They already have enough money; better to share it with the less fortunate.
And that minds me of an interesting suggestion to reform the NFL. Guarantee player’s salaries. Apparently one reason owners are paying out millions of dollars for players is because if they get injured or sent to prison the club doesn’t have to pay them the rest of their contract. Make the contract a guaranteed payment and then owners will have a vested interest in protecting the health of their players and in not hiring people whose troubles with the law suggest future arrests.
Also I like the idea of requiring members of Congress to be required to pee into a cup at random intervals. Not so much to see if they’re taking drugs, but to teach them how inhumane drug testing for wealth really is.
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Sue said on February 8, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Dexter@51: You will probably agree with this then:
http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2015/01/allison-williams-from-pirate-ship-to.html
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Deborah said on February 8, 2015 at 3:07 pm
I recently read Lena Dunham’s book, Not That Kind of Girl. I found some of the chapters funny, but most of it was… meh. But I’m certainly the wrong demographic for both the show and the book. Although I do watch the show.
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basset said on February 8, 2015 at 9:57 pm
Just started “Linthead Stomp,” an account of how country music formed in the Appalachian mill towns of the Twenties and Thirties. A “linthead,” of course, being a usually derogatory term for someone who worked in a textile mill… i.e. my ancestors… and a “stomp” being, well, this isn’t one exactly but I’ll give it a nine, you can dance to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXAscoBvg5w
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Dexter said on February 9, 2015 at 12:51 am
I passed on the Grammys to watch a new episode of “Shameless” on Showtime and another installment of “Peaky Blinders” on NETFLIX . The latter is a Brit series, set in Birmingham, England in 1919-1920. It’s a spell-binder, as compelling as “House of Cards” was when it was released.
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Dave said on February 9, 2015 at 12:54 am
I passed on the Grammys because I figured I’d barely know who any of the artists are. Or care. Or, to be brutally honest, want to find out.
My younger self would have never believed that.
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Sd native said on February 9, 2015 at 1:36 am
My younger, cooler self would have said the Grammys are a joke and reflect what deeply unhip middle aged people think is current.
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Sd native said on February 9, 2015 at 1:40 am
The Boston Red Sox signed left-handed pitcher Wade Miley to a three-year extension worth $19mm. In 2014, Miley went 8-12 with a 4.34 ERA in 201 1/3 innings pitched.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on February 9, 2015 at 7:36 am
We watched Grammy coverage before Downton Abbey & Grantchester, and after; helped a great deal to have a sixteen year old in the room for simultaneous translation.
My wife and I are enjoying Grantchester more than Downton right now, but one could easily presume that’s to be expected. Lots of moments when we look at each other and go “Oh, yeah.” Sixty years and the Atlantic between Sidney and us, but quite recognizable.
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Jolene said on February 9, 2015 at 8:02 am
Is Grantchester a continuing series like Downton or just a set of shows, i.e., more like Law & Order? (There must be some vocabulary for this distinction. Anyone?)
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Basset said on February 9, 2015 at 8:20 am
Passed on the Grammys myself but Mrs. B had em on, walked through just as they were mentioning the Louvin Brothers’ lifetime achievement award so I guess they were doing something right.
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