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Grrrrrr. Stop printing incorrect information from stupid people PLEASE!
From the Vox:
"I am stunned by the number of people that can't get this straight: 2009 is not the last year of this decade. We count from one to ten, not zero to nine. Next year is the last year of the first decade of the third millennium. The third millennium runs from 2001-3000, just like the first ran from 1-1000."
Who is this “We”? Is there a mouse in your pocket?
There is no established “right way” when it comes to decades.
A decade is a group of 10.
It is that simple.
Oh but, you say, what about all that hubbub about the year 2000 and the year 2001? Which one started the Millennium and all that rubbish? There was a big debate and people said some nasty things about people who celebrated too early and the people celebrating responded that the whiners were all just jealous because the type of people who worry about such things don’t get invited to the really good Millennium parties anyway and were just sore.
On the turn of the century you might have an argument – seeing that it only comes up every hundred years - the cultural norm established for one doesn’t carry over to the next and thus is cause for confusion and divisiveness every single time.
Decades are different in that our collective conscience contains strong memories of at least 7 decades at any one time.
Our culture references decades casually – The decade of the 60s ran from 1960 to 1970. We put all the years that begin with the same number into one group and we call it a decade. When we look back at the 00s we define it as running from 00 to 10 or call it the Noughties as some egghead at the BBC coined.
It is that simple.
As to you your highfaluting “third millennium” stuff- that will not apply when Ryan Seacrest does his “Biggest Songs of the Decade” countdown and no one will care when your favorite night spot does it’s “80s Night” or it’s “Noughts Night Happy Hour Dance Party and Buffet!”
I would laugh if this wasn’t so sad.
From today’s editorial:
THE TRUTH must always be an absolute defense against libel. To argue otherwise is an assault on our freedoms.
Bartoon and Co. wail and moan about a case out of New England which implies that, under Massachusetts law, the intent of a statement and not the content can determine libel.
In the shell of a nut: guy got fired for stealing from his company – company sent out memo to other employees saying “guy got fired for stealing from his company” guy sued company.
I’m not really so much interested in the case as I am the level of hypocrisy or self delusion it took for the fine upstanding editors of the Savannah Morning News to puff themselves up as the champions of truth.
I guess if this had gone down at the SMN they would have covered themselves as they do so often when what they say might be considered less than truthful:
“guy got fired for ALLEGEDLY stealing from his company” or
“SOURCES SAY guy got fired for stealing from his company” or perhaps a VOX POPULI says
“I HEAR guy got fired for stealing from his company”
Bottom line: It doesn’t matter if it’s true.
Once you publish or broadcast the information it becomes true for that segment of the population that reads or sees it and that is why journalists and businesses which claim to be in the business of journalism need to cultivate more than just a CoverYourAss culture when it comes to the truth.
New Year’s Resolution: Write More
Excuse for Breaking New Year’s Resolution: There’s nothing to write about
Thus has been the case for me for much of the past two months. I look back at my early stuff and kinda laugh at the things that got me interested/angry/confused enough to sit down and bang out a paragraph or two….
Oh before I get all maudlin and weepy about how...
thingsareworsenowthanwhenIstarted so I’mnothavingmuchofanimpact and shouldjusthangitupnow before Ibecomethecrazyoldguycarryingasignarounddowntownthatsays“Journalism is Murder!” ...there was this one thing that caught my eye yesterday.
"I should be able to count on the county to put proper rules in place to protect me,"
I find it to be a wonderfully disgusting moment when someone, in fewer than 20 words, can sum up everything that is wrong with the human condition in the 21st century.
There is the obvious problem here - this person was talking about buying a new home and their expectation that somehow it is the government’s job to make sure they, the private citizen, spend hundreds of thousands of dollars wisely.
There is the hint at just how successful the past 70 years of social engineering have been in weakening personal responsibility in favor of the nanny state.
There is the glaring fact that no government on this planet could ever live up to the engineered expectations of total and complete protection from any type of harm physical, financial or emotional.
Of course this also points out that we’ve been socially engineering for the wrong qualities – we should have been working to train people to get involved with and take charge of their situations instead we have trained them to sit around and wait for help to arrive in the form of a check or a truckload of armed soldiers.
Funny how, just 114 years ago, such a dependent state was the stuff of horror to H. G. Wells. That leads me to this question on New Year’s Day – If we have become the Eloi who shall become the Morlocks?
The following is not true and should not be printed as fact - Downtown-area crime decreases.
The reporter makes much of the fact that folks downtown find it hard to believe that one small segment of crime has decreased. That is because people in the real world, as opposed to the la-la land in which stupid reporters think we live, don’t segment crime out into easily digestible and easily manipulated statistical bites.
We recognize, for instance, that 469 people getting robbed on the street might be a bit less than last year but it is still 469 people, more than one every day, and that is a bunch.
Don’t get me wrong – HOORAY! Crime is down slightly year over year in most categories and that is a good thing. My problem here is how this stuff gets twisted and reported – the actual numbers are a good enough story. Just print those.
Speaking of how things get reported – excellent case study here from the VOX:
"So they want to get rid of the I-16 flyover because it is an eyesore but the same city wants to build one over DeRenne?"
So remember back at the beginning of December when I said the reporters at the Derenne thing seemed less interested in the actual recommendations for traffic improvements than they were in the knownothings making noise because they had not been paying attention? Now we have the logical result of that type of short sighted, throwaway kind of junk journalism.
Of course the folk at Savannah Morning News can’t help themselves so they compound the mistake by printing the ramblings of this ill informed, half-cocked popinjay. For the record the flyover would be West and South of Derenne and would not slice through a neighborhood so the comparison is ridiculous.
And finally –
"I wonder if OSHA cares that the City of Savannah employees were not wearing safety helmets while helping to place the terra cotta winged lion. The restoration guy was. Good thing no one was hurt."
I don’t know for sure but I would imagine it is the city’s phenomenal employee health insurance coverage that prompts such daring do in dangerous situations. A conk on the head from the concrete lion’s wings and they’re set for life.
Oh wait… I almost forgot – Kudos to Ms. Conn for recognizing
what was really important at yesterday’s
council meeting and only mentioning the stupid, stupid, stupid taxi stuff
as an afterthought.
Of course it was only the fake SDRA controversy that her paper stirred up that elevated the important stuff to the top but at this point I’ll take what I can get in the way of informative reporting.
Seriously – let’s try to keep the printed lies to a minimum in 2010 – please.
From the Vox:
"Why are gasoline prices higher in Savannah than anywhere in the state?"
That is patently untrue and should not be printed as fact. And really shouldn’t be printed as a headline to an article online or otherwise.
The fact is that Gas in Savannah is sold at a range of prices that are on a par with the rest of the state. According to the gas price reporting websites – Stockbridge Georgia comes in with the highest regular unleaded gas price in the state at $2.79 with the highest price listed in the City of Savannah ringing up at $2.59.
According to AAA - Athens average price is 2 cents higher – the Columbus average price is 1 cent cheaper
The Savannah price is on par with what drivers in most other parts of the state are paying so how exactly can someone say our gas prices are “higher than anywhere” without being called a liar?
"Our principal had the nerve to tell teachers we had to read Accelerated Reader books over the Christmas break. Why not have parents read them? This is ridiculous. Give teachers a break sometime."
Really. You want that printed for everyone to see.
You are supposed to be a teacher and you are complaining that you are being forced to read books?
Books that you teach from and that you should be intimately familiar with?
Books that you probably should have already read since you will be teaching it and because… uh you went to college right?
You really want people to know that you are that stupid?
~sigh~
Hi There! You may not remember me – my name is Estupido and I used to write a blog.
I’ve been uninspired of late. I will sit down all revved up over one thing or another and before I get more than a couple of lines down I’m suddenly wondering what time Antiques Roadshow is on BBC (2pm BTW) or where I left that book I was reading last week the one about the kid in the dystopian/utopian future world where everyone is quite literally colorblind.
Today I am determined to produce at least a few paragraphs because the current reality vs. reporting gap is so wide on this issue I fear someone might fall in and be lost forever like Tony Thomas’ measuring stick.
“Let's hope Savannah City Council's toughened oversight of revitalization efforts doesn't become a choke hold.”
This was a WTF moment for me today. Tom Bartoon and his merry miscreants have been all abuzz since someone began the completely unfounded rumor that the city was going to defund SDRA – that’s the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority for those of you who remain stubbornly unwashed and uninformed.
First they put aside all manner of journalistic ethics and standards to produce a rather large piece of excrement chock full of nothing but unsubstantiated rumor and carrying the noxious and not so subtle fist shaking threat that if Savannah’s City Council didn’t do as SMN and SDRA’s minions decreed then a pox would fall on all their houses, the heifers and goats would stop giving milk and the grapes would sour on the vines etc… etc… ad infinitum.
That was followed quickly by this noxious little gas bubble that basically rehashed the rumorfest and threw more insults toward city leaders while deifying a businessman who, as far as I can tell, only has one complaint – that the city won’t build him a parking deck, at taxpayer expense, for his planned private development.
All this rumor based reporting actually created a very real threat to SDRA funding where none had existed before – they made a golem of paper and ink and it came to life and set out to devour them.
Council demanded and, this past week, got a meeting with those that control the SDRA.
Council had one simple question – Considering all the money we give y’all each year, what is the plan to encourage development along the MLK and Montgomery corridors?
The SDRA answer: There is no plan.
The Council response to the SDRA answer: Let’s make a plan. Tony Thomas and a member of staff will hang around to make sure it happens.
How does that even hint at “choke hold”?
I don’t mean to imply that City Council was happy with the meeting. They were understandably the opposite of happy to find out that we’ve been funneling hundreds of thousands in tax dollars toward what we thought was a plan to encourage redevelopment only to find out there is no actual plan.
All in all our leaders handled it as a corporate board might handle an underperforming subsidiary – sternly but professionally - exactly as they should.
My blog buddy Savannah Red kinda got onto me this morning for NOT doing what I do here very much lately. No excuses offered – I’m here, you’re here, let’s do this thing.
I have a couple of bones to pick about the coverage of the Project Derenne thistimeitbetterworkorelsewe’rejustgivingup big plan unveiling last night. I didn’t go for a couple of reasons, mainly because they held the meeting south of Derenne and I don’t like to travel that far out of town at night.
Who are you people?
From what I could gather from the coverage – there were a bunch of angry people there who somehow managed to go for the past two years and hear absolutely nothing about this thing called Project Derenne.
What’s more, these knownothings claim to be property owners in the area of Derenne. HOW in the world is it possible? Your livelihood is tied directly to the future of Derenne and yet you haven’t noticed the billboards, the ads in the paper, the full color mailings from the project to property owners…
Is any of this ringing a bell?
I would, at this juncture, complain about the media seeking out these knownothings and only telling their story – but I know why that happened. They were the loudest people at the meeting and reporters are simple folk who respond to bright colors and loud noises much like the creatures on that Meerkat Manor show.
The people who have been paying attention and have taken part in the process didn’t have to yell last night because they pretty much got all their yelling done at meetings over the past TWO YEARS.
A few things that should have never made the air or print:
Under the heading “Recommendations” Ms. Conn included this:
“Transforming the commercial district south of DeRenne - where the landmark giant globe is - into one rimmed with businesses that are closer to the street. Two-story structures could have storefronts on the bottom, residences above. The buildings would create a buffer for parking, a linear plaza and a green space that would have the globe as a main attraction. It could become a new gathering spot for residents who wanted to attend jazz concerts, movies in the park or other events.”
I kinda think that wasn’t a “recommendation” because it is not something that can be done by the City Government. I think maybe Ms. Conn is confused between the developers “vision” for what Derenne can become and their “Recommendations” for what the city can do with Derenne. The latter is limited to intersection improvements or creating that loopy thing they want that would loop from 516 to Hunter to White Bluff. The city can build roads and not much else.
Ms. Hutchings from WTOC was the worst of the “find the loudest people and put them on TV” crowd.
"The businesses we're concerned about, the people we're concerned about, it's our neighborhood," said Kathryn Cook… "It's not going to happen. We don't have the money for that to happen. Saying we're going to plant trees and do this and that, where's the money coming from?" asked Cook.
Her question was never answered.”
Actually Ms. Hutchings and Ms. Cook – that question was answered like a decade ago – there are millions in sales tax dollars allocated specifically to work on Derenne. Both of you ladies should have known that, Ms. Hutchings because it is your job to understand the issues you are reporting about and Ms. Cook because you claim to be so interested in the future of your business.
WSAV coverage is a sin of omission. They too allowed Ms. Cook to prove her ignorance of the process and failed to provide answers that would educate and inform their audience but they also didn’t actual tell the audience anything about the plan.
“The latest concepts for expanding, developing, or changing traffic patterns and neighborhoods along derenne were unveiled Thursday night.
While the city sold the concepts for a less congested, more beautiful neighborhood, the reaction to the plans were mixed.”
I can only guess from the lack of coverage, spelling and grammar errors, that WSAV didn’t actually send a reporter to the meeting and some intern had to write it up.
Bottom line on Project Derenne for me is that the City has given the people who actually care about the issue ample time to comment and cajole and gripe – now they need to take care of business or get off the pot.
Bottom Line on Derenne Avenue for me is that you freaky southside people can have it. I’m staying downtown.
LIARS!
It has been a while since the Savannah Morning News has printed a blatant lie – they have been wrong plenty but obvious blatant lies have been thin on the ground until this week.
From the Vox:
"So an insurance company-backed study recommends to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that mammograms are not necessary until you are 50 and self exams are not beneficial? I was not aware a woman between the ages of 40 and 49 could not be stricken by this deadly disease. Blatant greed."
For those of you new to my amber waves of brain – You have a right to your opinion but you do not have the right to pollute the public discourse with false statements of fact. The above is a false statement of fact printed as opinion by an editorial staff that is apparently too lazy to check the details before they print something.
The “study” in question does not exist.
There was no study. There was a recommendation by a panel of doctors and other healthcare workers. They based that recommendation on other people’s research.
“We used 6 established models to estimate the outcomes across 20 mammography screening strategies that vary by age of initiation and cessation and by screening interval among a cohort of U.S. women. The results are intended to contribute to practice and guideline policy debates.”
The sources for the models they created were from scientific studies done primarily in socialist countries or the National Cancer Institute – not from any insurance company.
2. Nyström L, Andersson I, Bjurstam N, Frisell J, Nordenskjöld B, Rutqvist LE. Long-term effects of mammography screening: updated overview of the Swedish randomised trials. Lancet 2002;359:909-19. [PMID: 11918907]
3. Tabár L, Vitak B, Chen HH, Duffy SW, Yen MF, Chiang CF, et al. The Swedish Two-County Trial twenty years later. Updated mortality results and new insights from long-term follow-up. Radiol Clin North Am 2000;38:625-51. [PMID: 10943268]
4. Vainio H, Bianchini F, eds. Breast Cancer Screening. International Agency for Research on Cancer Handbook on Cancer Prevention, Report No. 7. Lyon, France: International Agency for Research on Cancer; 2002.
5. Moss SM, Cuckle H, Evans A, Johns L, Waller M, Bobrow L; Trial Management Group. Effect of mammographic screening from age 40 years on breast cancer mortality at 10 years' follow-up: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet 2006;368:2053-60. [PMID: 17161727]
The group making the recommendations is a pseudo governmental entity established by FEDERAL lawmakers and has no direct links to insurance companies. They also claim that cost-cutting was not their primary concern when writing their report.
The Savannah Morning News should be ashamed - printing this type of lie in the paper adds to the confusion and distrust many people already suffer when it comes to the healthcare debate. Printing lies on the topic at this pivotal time in our country is shameful.
Observe how the drones will swarm when they sense a threat to the hive….
Really y’all? Basing an entire business section on an unconfirmed comment that no one will admit to actually hearing?
Printing testimonials praising a quasigovernmental authority without any examination of the underlying facts or an accounting of that authority’s performance?
This is journalism?
Despite what I was taught on the debate team, I have recently been informed that using rhetorical questions is the sign of a smarta$$ and not the modern polite way to make a point.
I am a smarta$$?
For some reason the Savannah Morning News Editorial folk is circling the wagons around the Savannah Development and Renewal Authority.
“It is believed in some quarters that Mayor Otis Johnson then suggested the City Council look into "defunding" the quasi-government entity at the council retreat next week at St. Simons Island.”
Seriously – that all they got. Somebody says the Mayor said something that they can’t confirm.
Oh and while we're at it... City Council isn't going to St. Simons Island on retreat this year they are staying in Chatham County. At least that is what they talked about at earlier meetings. You know meetings?... where the Savannah Morning News should have reporters in the room but often don't?
This is journalism?
Not only are the origins of this article suspect, the newspaper’s reaction is something akin to killing a fly with a laser guided thermonuclear fission-assisted sledgehammer.
They only quote one person who was actually in the room when the supposed conversation took place – apparently more than 15 people were present – but Ms. Smith-Broady decided to devote most of the article to people who had simply heard the rumor, believed it and were really really angry about it.
Oh yeah the one person who was actually in the room and quoted in the article denies hearing anything like what the paper is claiming.
The only indication that the so-called journalists at the SMN tried to look into the situation at all is this limp excuse:
“The Savannah Government Television broadcast of the work session doesn't include that part of the meeting.”
Didn’t you have a reporter there?
BTW the reason they are having so much trouble finding the details of this supposed situation is because it may have actually happened the week before.
At least part of the conversation Alderman Jackson references in her interview took place during the discussion of capital projects on November 5th.
The Mayor at that time did say he wanted an accounting of activities along the MLK corridor and was displeased with what he sees as at the lack of progress.
I don’t know for sure if he revisited that topic at the last meeting, neither does the paper so they really shouldn't be writing an article about it.
This is NOT JOURNALISM.
Still not feeling bloggy but I feel I simply must call BS on this capper from the story on Georgia Power’s move to a new building downtown:
“Commercial Realtor John Neely, of Colliers Neely Dales in Savannah, called Georgia Power's Abercorn purchase "a vote of confidence in downtown and the future,”…”
Not even close – If this were a commercial entity spending money and moving into swank new digs I might agree. Unfortunately there is no sooth to say here when it is a government sanctioned monopoly immune to market forces so far as its revenue stream is concerned.
Georgia power regularly counts its money in billions – quite literally it makes enough in a month to buy and refurbish that building downtown twice. This does not reflect at all on the market or the downtown economy at all.
