271 posts tagged “savannah morning news”
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.
Gentle, Genteel and Gentile readers please forgive my slackness – I have been distracted by a family matter that I may or may not share in this forum.
The result of my distraction is that not much can get my ire up right now however there were a couple of things that struck me.
See what you get when you just show up?
Recently I have had many occasions to lament the absence of the media from important meetings at which important things happened that ultimately will impact every single citizen of Savannah.
That was not the case at the most recent City Council Meeting and from that single event the Savannah Morning News has managed to milk three headline-worthy stories and gathered intel to assist them with many more stories.
So far from that single event we had actual news on
Friday 11/6 – Enmark, city to try for compromise for Hampstead station and City suspends D.I. Grill's liquor license
Thursday 11/12 - D.I. Grille can serve liquor until hearing
Sunday 11/15 – Sales tax revenue coming in short
Monday 11/16 - West Savannah neighborhood to see more improvement in 2010
While not all of these saw action at the meeting - the lagging sales tax and the West Savannah renewal plan were discussed by leaders and provided reporters with a starting point for the larger story proving once again that there is tremendous value in just showing up.
Now a couple from the Vox -
"The actors and actresses on the set of 'The Conspirator' could smile, talk to, or acknowledge the fans that are there to admire and flatter them. They should stop being snobs."
Yeah cause if a bunch of people came to the office, restaurant, beauty salon or Wal Mart where you work and just stood there and stared at you – you would totally be all “Hey y’all thanks for coming down here and just standing around while I work.” Ignoramus!
"The difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals recognize the distinct strata of society and desire to address their problems. Conservatives recognize the distinct strata of society and desire to preserve them."
No – the difference between liberals and conservatives is that liberals want total control so they can tell you what you can do and conservatives want total control so they can tell you what you can’t do.
Oh… wait that really isn’t a difference is it?
Mother may I break the rules – just a little - just this once – please?
People seem to have a difficult time figuring out my politics when, in my mind at least, it is very simple and clear.
There are Rules. Live by those Rules.
That’s it. Call it playground logic if you will.
Armed with that little insight you can see why this little piece of propaganda from the Savannah Morning News had me boiling:
“SAVANNAH CITY Council should either approve a rezoning at White Bluff and Hampstead, or buy the land from the developer.”
Partly I am mad cause they are wrong – partly because the editorial staff presented a whole page of wrong under a bigas animated banner ad for Enmark- the owner of the land.
This goes back to that whole Enmark thing from last week’s city council meeting.
Enmark is asking for permission to break the zoning law on a piece of land in a neighborhood. The paper would have you believe that is not only okay but their GAWD given right.
City leaders can't preclude property owners from the rightful use of their land indefinitely.
Rightful use? So, according to the paper, City Council has lost the power to enforce zoning laws? When did this happen?
Does this mean I can pursue my lifelong dream of operating a deer processing/taxidermy shop in the heart of Ardsley Park. I can put in the Helicopter landing pad I’ve always wanted?
Oh but no… Enmark is going to enhance the neighborhood by breaking the zoning laws.
“That Enmark is moving to get the rezoning anyway is a testament to its corporate stewardship.
The company has also pledged to build a store with a more residential-looking design, muted colors, and a single low sign on the White Bluff side of the property.”
Okay… see Enmark knew the zoning when they bought the land.
Everyone involved including Enmark says they can build the station they want without breaking the zoning laws but we are supposed to applaud because they want to break the zoning laws?
The paper tries to do a little MPC dance pointing out the “transitional”
nature of the area as an excuse to allow further commercial encroachment into
the neighborhood.
Doesn’t that just push the transitional part into the
residential part?
Where do we stop the transitioning part?
Will there be any houses left?
Savannah’s self-appointed GAY spokesperson Kevin Clark is at it again – This time he’s right – for the most part.
Clark is beeatching about how a group of gay “leafletters” were treated at the recent innovation awards. The police acted “stupidly”, to borrow a phrase from the president, when they rudely and unconstitutionally sent The GAYS away from the public streets and sidewalks where the awards were handed out.
However he makes a key mistake in is tirade that the paper should have cleared up or excised from this SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS piece.
Moreover, why did prominent politicians, including Alderman Tony Thomas and County Commission Chairman Pete Liakakis, who were in attendance, stand by and watch as their police committed this embarrassment?
Mr. Thomas and Mr. LIakakis could not, by law, say boo to the cops in this or any other situation.
The SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS knows this, they have lauded this particular part of the Manager Form of Government and they have berated the City Council for Micro Managing when they dared to ask a difficult question of the police chief because they simply wanted to know how many cops we have and where they were assigned.
The paper should NEVER have printed this unfounded accusation.
They know full well that repeating Clark’s criticism makes two electeds look as though they don’t care when the truth is they were as powerless as The GAYS.
In the city’s case Aldermen are strictly forbidden to interfere with the day to day operations of any city department. On a bigger scale anyone – ANYONE – interfering with a police officer duties in just about any situation could be charged with obstruction.
Don’t like the idea that the police can break the law and trample your rights and no one can stop them on the spot?
Tough!
This is the price you pay to live in the false belief that you and your family are safe.
One from the VOX:
"The news told of a young lady being gang raped as a crowd of chicken livered onlookers watched. How revolting and cowardly. That would not have happened back in my day."
When exactly was your “day” - 1964 perhaps? That is the year Kitty Genovese was stabbed and suffocated on her own blood within site and earshot of more than a dozen people who did little or nothing to help her.
Or perhaps your “day” was the 1920’s or 1930’s or perhaps 1940’s or 1950’s when groups of people banded together to hang individuals from trees until their necks broke or they choked to death. No one lifted a hand to stop them and instead cheered them on back in those days.
We are a violent group of animals. We have always been a violent group of animals and we have always run away from our fellow animal’s problems when we have the opportunity.
That is why we survived so long and so well among faster and deadlier groups of animals.
Don’t play dumb! The exact same levels of violence and cowardice exist in each and every one of us yesterday, today and tomorrow.
For the first time in a long time I was at a complete loss for words but oddly proud of myself at the same time.
So what did you do on Halloween?
I decided to stay in and get caught up on what happened at the quarterly town hall meeting they had over to the civic center the other night. Scary dull I know.
You might be asking yourself “what town hall meeting?” I certainly was since I saw nothing on it from my usual news sources. I managed to find a blurb that it was coming up but no coverage of the actual meeting.
Turns out I didn’t miss much, however the Savannah Morning News could have used this as an excuse to report the current and future economic state of the city -- since they missed that story at the last City Council and still have yet to report it. Head Penny Pincher Chris Morrill provided a brief budget explanation for the apparently very small crowd of neighbors who showed up.
Despite the fact that Morrill called it “The Great Recession” , which is hyperbolic, his talk was to the point and chock full of as yet unreported, important information about how all that money we give to the local government is being spent and who might get laid off and what services might get cut and such.
Besides that we got the regular “Here’s What We’ve Done For You Lately” somewhat self-serving priorities bit from the bureaucracy and a talk about the as yet completely ineffective Youth Futures Authority and something about Black Male Achievement which I skipped over because I have already achieved what I plan to achieve. You too can skip right over that and the other stuff that doesn’t grab you with handy dandy index points provided at the link posted above.
The other thing that I did NOT skip over was the bit from the Housing Authority of Savannah. They are the Public Housing Folk basically the local arm of the Housing and Urban Development department of the Federal Government.
It looked like it would be a right interesting historic perspective on what the HAS has done since its founding back in the 1930s. And it was, interesting I mean, right up until they got to the bit about Stubbs Tower.
Ms. Earline Davis the executive Director of the HAS described a slide she indicated was an Ad for Stubbs Tower at the time of its construction.
“This is Stubbs Towers the first high rise senior building built by the housing authority. For those of you who remember Stubbs Towers, I want to read
for you what is on the literature ‘Move up to Stubbs -Stubbs Towers offers cutting edge high rise living with breath taking views an exciting floor plan with the slickest contemporary design and the clever use of modern materials and space made for today’s living.’…”
I almost swallowed my tongue.
I created that ad for this blog in 2007. It is not a 1960's era ad for a High Rise Senior Living Facility-it is a fake, a fraud, a poor attempt at funny photoshopping.
I don’t know how to react to this, I mean, do I need to put
disclaimers on what are obviously photo fakery? Should I be proud the work was so convincing?
I feel I have to point it out but, given the anonymous nature
of my work, I can’t very well call up Ms. Davis and tell her.
So I will leave it to you my dear readers to inform her, as gently as you can, that she should remove that slide from future presentations and should check her sources more carefully in the future.
I am a little ashamed that I was at the root of one of those internet artifacts that becomes historical fact simply because no one knows any better.
I also am a little proud that my work could be mistaken for the real thing…is that wrong?
It takes a serious act of will to be this stupid or does it just come naturally?
“He sounds like a nice, unsuspecting guy who doesn't always read the fine print, believes what people tell him and suffers from lousy timing. Then bad things happen, like the condo market going off a cliff.”
An editorial in the Savannah Morning News goes on and on about this moronic guy that bought one of the condos that are inside the old newspaper building on Bay.
Okay – maybe Bartoon could say the guy was a victim of bad timing if he…say… bought at the end of 2007. The real estate bubble was slowly deflating here in Savannah and it looked like we might be recession proof or at least go shallow and recover quickly but that is not the case for this particular “victim”.
“Williams, an interior designer from New York, paid $670,000 for a fifth-floor condominium last December at News Place West at 165 West Bay Street.”
Last December? LAST December? Really?
What “fine print” did he not see? Could it have been this headline in the Savannah Morning News in September: Bailout unlikely to counter slump or perhaps this tiny little headline in December: Forecasters: Georgia's economic outlook 'dreadful' .
Truthfully though, in condo boy’s defense, it is hard to get an accurate picture of the local economy from reading Mr. Bartoon’s newspaper.
Here are a group of SMN headlines arranged by date. Can you tell how the economy is doing?
Ga. economist: State could be facing recession
Housing may rebound by year's end; economy to grow slowly
New reports give bleak outlook on housing, economy
Growth weaker than hoped; economy shrinks in Q4
Consumer spending gain provides hope for rebound
City Talk: Data suggest ongoing economic weakness
Report: Worst of recession likely over for Coastal Empire
Manufacturing data boosts hopes of recession end
Georgia hits record unemployment
Schizophrenic much?
I like to think of myself as patient. I mean… I waited three whole days and a half before I pointed out this latest example of how piss poor the coverage of our local city government has become.
While I applauded the Savannah Morning News for their “just the facts” approach to last week’s City Council meeting I was unaware at the time that they actually missed the biggest and most important story of the day. Every media outlet in town apparently missed it. I would have missed it too if I hadn’t bothered to watch the budget briefing on the City Channel.
85 City of Savannah Jobs may be Going BUH BYE!
I should have known it couldn’t last. The city did so well balancing the budget for 2009. Like the little engine that could they climbed that mounting deficit till they reached the peak at $5 million and coasted down the other side without any layoffs, furloughs, firings or other shortcuts to Balanced Budget Land.
Unfortunately the picture for 2010 is even less rose tinted than I previously reported.
Here is what the big brains in the Chief Penny Pincher’s office are predicting:
They see $3 million less in revenue coming in next year.
That is a fresh $3 million revenue deficit added to the $5 million revenue deficit we saw this year…. That still too mathy?… um… How bout this?
Revenue is back down to 2004 levels but spending is still up at 2007-2008 levels.
Think about what you were spending in 2008 – your expenses were probably just above what you could afford on your salary – now imagine your paycheck came in but the Accounting Department made a mistake and paid you your 2004 salary. You still have all the same bills but much less to pay them - that is what is happening to the city.
There was a smidge of good news – City Budgeteers see a small recovery on the horizon with more spending (a 1% increase in Sales Tax and Hotel/Motel Tax revenues), more building (a 5% increase in revenue from inspections fees). Of course those increases are above our already rock bottom levels so not really a cash banquet but still good to see even a slight reversal of fortunes.
Back to the not so happy news – The city has been trying to find a way to squeeze and stretch what they have in order to continue providing the same level of services and keep all their employees and keep from going into ridiculous amounts of debt.
The fact is they can’t do it.
No one could.
Something’s gotta give.
In this case they plan to eliminate some services, we don’t know which ones yet, and some 85 jobs could be erased along with those eliminated services.
Officially: 85 positions will be held vacant, reallocated or eliminated the city's goal is still to avoid layoffs.
Chris Morrill says they think they can do it without firing anyone “What we will try to do is to reassign those employees to areas where, through this economic crisis, we could use some more work there on a temporary basis.”
So those workers who find themselves surplus to requirements will be given the opportunity to do a different job.
City Manager Michael Brown puts it this way “We will give every employee the chance to make a reasonable transition.” But he stated clearly that there may still be layoffs because some jobs are definitely going away and if the employee isn’t willing to make the transition and do the new job to the best of their ability they will not be kept on.
No matter what you think of the city’s plan I want you to ask yourself if perhaps this story should have been reported by the people actually paid to report on Savannah instead of your faithful unpaid blogger pal ESTÚPIDO.
We all pay for city services, most of us expect them to be there when we need them even if we never need them. How can an important story about an organization that WE ALL OWN not make the paper or television news?
Where is Savannah’s fourth estate?
Why are you wasting so much ink on this?
There are maybe 200 cabs in Savannah. Why does such a minor industry warrant soooooo much press coverage?
Today we get Three, count them three, full on pieces on the taxi industry. They are from students so I guess the SMN, as a cost cutting measure, has figured out how to get even younger and cheaper labor through the door.
1. Toma: Cab owners seek City Council-abled cartel
2. Toma: College does taxi study
3. Toma: Some cabbies want to stiff riders
Here is the deal - the city is trying to decide if they should limit the number of taxi licenses or not.
They are leaning toward doing it and regulating the industry in a method similar to but not exactly like the medallion system found in New York and Atlanta.
Who Cares?
The only time anyone who might care interfaces with a cab is when they come out of the airport or perhaps the Amtrak station but those people’s standards are already low so don’t mind them.
The other people who use cabs regularly are the responsible drunks trying to get home from downtown or the poor and elderly who do not drive.
The former don’t notice or won’t remember, the latter usually use the same person every time and are accustomed to the current situation.
Nobody cares except the cab drivers and they are a microminority and don’t deserve all this attention from the media or academia or the city bureaucracy.
On a different topic: It seems Mr. Atkins filled in for Ms. Conn at yesterday’s city council meeting. He filed a report on the Bar Card issue which was by far the most important and far reaching issue on the agenda yesterday.
The article is a quite thorough recounting of the facts and I suggest you read it if you are interesting in council’s attempts to regulate the bar industry.
Let’s all embrace the inaccuracy!
This will be brief.
Hopefully I won’t have to drill this one home too much.
It’s obvious that this is wrong and any respectable journalist should recognize that this is wrong and reject it on its face and refuse to play along.
From the Savannahriverismostpollutedandwe’reallgonnadie story in Thursday’s SMN:
“Environment Georgia's methodology is admittedly crude, Gayer said. It doesn't account for companies that fail to report or for other sources of pollution such as agricultural runoff or discharge from municipal sewerage systems. Nor does it take into account the size of the waterway or the varying toxicity of the chemicals listed.
"The report is open about the fact that it has holes," Gayer said. "We report on this in a way that grabs people's attention and makes them think….”
So in other words it is just a bunch of overhyped BS and funny math under a scary headline?
Yeah cause grabbing people’s attention is far more important than an accurate report that would, oh I don’t know, lead to a substantive and meaningful discussion of just how much stuff we pump into our waterways.
Making stuff up and making things seem worse than they really are might grab people’s attention but you discredit yourself and eventually lose people once they figure out that you are exaggerating.
Pathetic.
