ML moving ahead with upgrade
[Removed from this blog]
Just an FYI, Mr. Cannon forgets to disclose that he is the school board president's father. I seem to be getting under some people's skin. Thanks for reading my blog, Mr. Cannon.
PS Patty Van Horn's phone and extension at the Almanac is 724.941.7725 ext.124. Her email address is pvhorn@thealmanac.net
Update February 9, 2012 9:00 AM Patty Van Horn called me this morning to say that this letter has been removed from the online edition of The Almanac. She did not realize that there are two James Cannon. She was not aware of the fact that Mr. Cannon failed to disclose that he is the school board president's father. She also apologized and a clarification will be published next week. Thank you, Ms. Van Horn. A special thanks go to all the folks who called and/or emailed the Almanac.
Update February 10, 2012 9:30 AM The Almanac has James Cannon's letter back online. It looks like the athletic supporters who commented, raised a fuss. I put it back up to show the kind of people who are associated with Josephine Posti, school board president and daughter of James Cannon [Senior]. It is unfortunate that Josephine has resorted to having her father do her dirty work by trying to discredit this blog and me. Nice work, Josephine.
Update February 10, 2012 11:59 AM The Almanac has removed the letter permanently. According to Patty Van Horn, the "Webmaster said it was a mechanical error and this should not happen again."
Update February 10, 2012 12:06 PM It is back up again. I can play this game all day. Folks, do you see the control Posti has with the media? And now you know why I have this blog and website. It is the only place for the "rest of the story" that never seems to get in the news.
Update February 10, 2012 12:17 PM And now it has been removed again from the Almanac website.
35 comments:
The new Pennsylvania Budget, released yesterday, proposes $94-Million in cuts to the Basic Education Subsidy for school districts, the Act 1 Millage limit is 1.7%, the pension contributions are going up from 8% to 12%, and several colleges have level or cut funding.
The Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates low until 2014 because of a weak economy, Social Security and Medicare are likely to be more expensive in 2014.
Life is getting harder for young parents as the K-12 and college budgets and retirement benefits get tighter.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/regional/s_780565.html
John
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Apparently Mr. Cannon Sr., like his daughter only wants people to know or view the information they wish to dispense.
He writes in his name calling rant: "it so unintelligible and boring that no one bothered reading it any more."
But gee, there is another opinion, that I'll bet you'll never hear him or the adults on the board recognize.
CBS Pittsburgh has this on their blog award site about Elaine Gillen's LeboCitizens. "It is informative, truthful, and starts insightful discussion. People are not afraid to comment about local municipal and school government."
Isn't that interesting. The school board president's father rips this blog. A big corporation recognizes it for its truthfulness and insightful discussions.
Gee, I just don't know who's comments I should believe.
Andy Bradford
As of 9:30am this morning Mr. Cannon Sr.'s letter was still posted on the Almanac web site.
Mr. Cannon Sr. has every right to write to the Almanac. The Almanac, being a private business, has every right to select the letters it publishes. I think the Almanac should not take down his letter - if they finally decide to do so - in favor of letting others debate him on the paper's turf. My guess is that the paper is now between a rock and a hard place in that Elaine's Blog, being as popular as it is, probably drove a lot of our local sine nobilitate to howl at the paper.
Mr. Cannon Sr. might be forgiven for defending his daughter, but he demonstrated very poor judgment by not disclosing his relationship to Mrs. Posti; although his cracks about "cranks and tin-hat fringe" show that he has a future in comedy.
Mr. Cannon also caused some confusion by not signing his letter as James Cannon Sr.
Elaine
Elaine, I'm confused. Is there a difference between you asking for the removal of the letter (or at least encouraging people to contact the Almanac) and Mr. Cannon's supporters asking that it remain up? What's the difference? Isn't it easier just to write a letter to the Almanac in response? I'm sure that's what the editors would prefer.
I don't know Mr. Cannon and in fact I couldn't pick him out of a crowd of one. But he's certainly entitled to his opinion.
The Almanac doesn't currently have a disclosure policy, and I can understand the difficulty in creating one. Under your theory, if Mr. Cannon Jr. sent in a letter to the editor should he disclose that he's related too? Family relationships are easy to disclose (although not always relevant to one's opinion), but what if an elected official is my neighbor, my co-worker or just a good friend? Should letter writers disclose those close relationships as well? If you were to write a letter that is critical of your Commissioner, who would you (or should you) disclose that you also ran for the seat? Just curious.
Dave Franklin
Which Mr. Cannon would you not be able to pick out in a crowd, Dave? And there lies the problem.
Elaine
Mr. Franklin, do I have to spell it out for you?
1) Elaine does not have the same name as her commissioner,
2) Elaine never got to run for commissioner in the general election. She didn't make it past the primary. She never ran against her commissioner for any office.
3)Elaine has done plenty of disclosing already.
4) If Mr. Cannon Jr. sends in a letter to the editor, and identifies himself in the same manner, then he clearly discloses he is not the same person as Mr. Cannon Sr.
David Huston
Full disclosure: David Huston was my campaign manager a year ago.
Don't miss the updates I have posted on this thread.
Elaine
Here we go, I'm betting Mr. Franklin, Mr. "ALL CAPS" here. I'll attempt to explain the difference regarding your question to Elaine on asking it to come down vs. asking for it to stay up.
Here's The Almanac's policy on submitting letters to the editor. "Comments are encouraged but you must follow our Terms of Service. All comments will be reviewed by administrators and posted to their respective articles within 24 hours. Comments deemed inappropriate will not be posted. 1. Keep it civil and stay on topic. 2. No profanity, vulgarity, racial slurs or personal attacks. 3. Comments that harass others or joke about tragedies will be deleted. 4. Keep it brief and turn off all caps. 5. No URL's."
Do you see No. 1? Keep it civil.
How about No. 2? No personal attacks.
While I find name-calling like "cranks", "tin-hat fringe" meaningless dribble, nonetheless it is a personal attack.
Would you find me calling you or Mr. Cannon in a letter to the editor -- dimwitted, stupid, or a------ a personal attack?
If not, then you're justified in your opinion that the letter should stay up.
Doesn't seem like an "adult method" of making a point, but to each his own.
Now Mr. Cannon Sr. could have written applauding the board's move forward on the high school. Praised them to high heaven for making the "right" decision. That's great- he can write endlessly regarding what he believes and support his daughter all he wishes.
But, that really wasn't the point of his submission, was it?
His objective, I believe, by the addition of the name calling and inference to immaturity of the high school opponents was to demean the project's critics.
Not a civil opinion, but an attack, just as we have witnessed so many times before. Examples:
his daughter's attack on Dirk Taylor's professionalism, again in the Almanac. Remember the"What the Kluck?" protest. How about the attacks on Mark Hart and James Fraasch? The PTA rule breaking email attacking the candidates in the past election?
Is this Mt. Lebanon civil discourse? Is this how adults behave in this community?
So Mr. Franklin, I'm sure you will come up with some creative name to call me, like "Captain America" or "ALL CAPS," that's your right, I suppose.
To the discerning reader it reflects more on you (or Mr. Cannon Sr.) than on I or Elaine. Also doesn't make for a very intelligent conversation.
Andy ALL CAPS Bradford
For full disclosure Elaine, can you pleas show us the field on the Almanac's website where someone can actually input a common name suffix? I certainly don't see one.
Jay Neff
Jay Neff, if you can submit a letter to the editor signed James Cannon, why can't you sign it James Cannon, Sr.?
Telling me this wouldn't work.
James
FIRST NAME
Cannon, Sr. or SMITH III or Jones, PhD
LAST NAME
Doesn't seem like rocket science.
Andy Bradford
James Cannon, Sr. should spend less time defending his school board president daughter, Mrs. Posti, and more time catching up on his company's bankruptcy payments. Those who live in glass houses, Mr. Cannon, should not throw stones. Given his horrific business failings, I can completely understand why Mr. Cannon finds it his mission to defend another failing organization in this school board. As far as I am concerned, the more times he spouts off at the mouth, the better the "tin hatters" look!
Albert Brennaman
Mr. Bradford, you have eloquently quoted for us the Almanac's policy on submitting comments in response to a Letter to the Editor. Those have absolutely nothing to do with whether or not the Letter is approved by the editors of the Almanac for publication in the first instance. There are no criteria online relative to the submission of letters, except for a single statement that reads, "Letters are subject to editing for length, clarity and taste."
Apparently, the editors of the Almanac thought that the letter was worthy of publication and allowed it to be posted.
My concern is that rather than offer comments in in response to Mr. Cannon in the space provided or submit a counter letter, some folks thought it best to contact the Almanac and ask that the letter be removed. What gives them that right? We can split hairs over the Jr. or Sr. designation, but I really think that's an issue for those gentlemen to hash out, and not you. me or anyone else. Besides, the Almanac has already said that they will print a clarification. Newspapers do that every day.
Let me put it a different way . . . if Jr. had submitted a letter to the editor of the Almanac stating that "the entire [high school] project has been mishandled, mismanaged and misdirected from the beginning" and simply signed it James Cannon (as he did when he posted such a letter to this blog on Nov 7) would Elaine and others have called the Almanac to let them know that it was Jr and not Sr, and that the author is the sister of the Board president? I'm inclined to doubt it. And that speaks volumes.
Dave Franklin
Mr. Franklin, are you calling either James Cannon a woman?
David Huston
Ha. Oops.
Dave Franklin
Yes, Mr. Franklin, that is the paper's published policy regarding replies to Letters to the Editor. I'm hoping that the editor applies those same standards to initial letters as well as to replies.
Since, Mr. Cannon's was published I guess, it would be up to Ms. Van Horn to tell if my speculation is correct. Perhaps it slipped through the cracks and that is why she agreed to remove it.
But, Mr. Franklin, when you're right... you're right. I stand corrected.
Questions regarding the letter you reference from Nov. 7th criticizing the high school project.
I vaguely remember it and unfortunately you can't just access Almanac archives far as I know.
Did Cannon Jr. make any reference to his bid for a school board seat? Was it understood that this this wasn't the father. To my memory it was obvious, and therefore wouldn't think to protest.
Regardless, why the name calling by either side?
Is this the way educated "adults" act in the affairs of the community?
One resident at one time made big claims that they attempting to "create community" here in Mt. Lebanon. Why they didn't think one previously existed is beyond me, but any way this same person engages in name calling and personal attacks all the time. As there are those that engage in the same behavior from the opposite camp.
Is this the way neighbors behave?
You and I have engaged here in numerous debates, made rather strong insinuations, and yes some funny, modest name calling. Its been I found, thought provoking and enlightening. The way it should be!
But, some of our neighbors are downright nasty to each other and that's not the M. Lebanon I thought I bought into.
Unfortunately, I believe some of our elected officials relish "unleashing the dogs" to divert attention away from the facts or their actions.
What say you... Dave?
Andy Bradford
I agree with Dave Franklin: it speaks volumes. What it says is that there are some subjects in town that have become so polarizing that the people caught up in them no longer care about arguing the issues on their merits. They are no longer interested in even hearing the other side of the argument. They are so confident that they are right and the others wrong that they can't bring themselves to believe that there might be some truth to what the other guys are saying.
So our discourse has devolved into a team sport played with political muscle, both sides throwing what influence they have into manipulating public decisions and even the public conversation. Each side works to broadcast its own beliefs and to punish and squelch those who would question them.
The great tragedy, of course, is that both sides think what I've written above describes the other guys perfectly and themselves not at all. But, in truth, they are mirror images of one another.
Tom, please give us an example of someone who opposes the high school project resorting to the language,name calling and personal attacks used by James Cannon Sr.
Joe Wertheim
Thanks Tom. You made my point better than I did. If I support Sr's right to have an opinion, I'm somehow deemed to support that opinion. I didn't support his opinion. I simply supported his right to have it. I don't think anyone disagrees with that premise, but since I raised the issue in the sequence I did I am deemed to be on one side vs another.
The one person who has been remarkably quiet on this issue is Elaine. Her post and subsequent updates and actions have created quite a stir and a lot of questions that she has yet to answer.
Dave Franklin
Joe, I'm reminded of a picture posted on this blog that seemed to compare our SB president to a flying monkey from the Wizard of Oz. I don't recall reading any objection from you. Should I continue?
Dave Franklin
Sorry Joe, but you opened the barn door. What do you think of Mr. Brennaman's comment on this thread? Seems like an off topic personal attack to me, but I'd like you opinion.
Dave Franklin
Don't worry, Dave. You'll be hearing from me.
Elaine
Sorry Dave, I don't see the Cannon Sr. letter and the picture as comparable. I guess Tom would say that my mirror is broken.
Joe Wertheim
Joe, to see an example of unkind language, name-calling, and personal attacks, you need go no farther than the title of the very post we're now discussing: "The father of all spinmeisters."
Further, it's easy to find examples of both sides in the high-school debate resorting to name-calling, playing the victim card, calling out the other guys as "bullies," and saying untrue things about the other guys. People on both sides are behaving badly, but they're all so confident of their own good intentions that they don't see what they're actually doing.
But, if you look closely, it's there to see.
Cheers,
Tom
Mr. Franklin, I'm sorry I don't see the harm in the Posti/monkey photo. The fashions are pointedly similar.
Delving deeper into the subject, officials and politicians have been portayed in political satire as everything from snakes and vermin to jackasses.
By artist held in great esteem, such as Thomas Nast to Dr. Seuss. Their work has been displayed from hick town papers to the Wall Street Journal to MOMA.
Political cartooning is part of political life around the world.
Considering the Dog & Pony Show put on by the school district (orchestrated most likely by a PR professional), I found the comparison quite apropros.
So that you will understand the definition of a Dog & Pony Show in the PR industry, here is one dictionary's definition - "dog and pony show: an elaborately staged activity, performance, presentation, or event designed to sway or convince people (from a derisive term for a small circus)"
In my opinion it was every bit the small circus, and from looking at the video hardly attended by "the hundreds" claimed by Mrs. Posti's father. Half the attendees were there because they played a role or were parents observing their children.
But back to the photo. I find it pales in comparison to the uncivilized snickering and catcalls directed at Mrs. Gillen as she spoke from the podium at a school board meeting.
To which by the way, no school board member found fault with or attempted to silence. Do all residents have the right and should they expect couteous treatment, or is that opportunity only reserved for the board's proponents?
So as I see it Mrs. Gillen is giving as good as she got. Turn about is fair play and all that.
Andy Bradford
Let me get this straight, guys. You find the phrase "father of all spinmeisters" or pictures of the Wizard of Oz right up there with raising our taxes 10.5% or avoiding a referendum or not disclosing details about the renovation such as asbestos abatement? Oh yes. This is definately like a piece from The Onion.
Elaine
Tom, I agree with everything you're saying, but why direct your last comment solely to Joe?
Mr. Franklin wrote this... "would Elaine and others have called the Almanac to let them know that it was Jr and not Sr, and that the author is the sister of the Board president? I'm inclined to doubt it. And that speaks volumes."
Hardly a view of life from both sides. And exactly what does he mean by... it speaks volumes?
Andy Bradford
Andy,
I directed my comment to Joe because, in his prior comment, he asked me for a response. By directing my response to him, I made clear that it was my response to him. Just as, right now, I'm directing my response to you, well, to you.
Cheers,
Tom
This is a fascinating thread, and one that should have occurred a long time ago. I don't know James, Jr., and I have never even met him as far as I know. But he sure seems like a good guy. What I do know is that main subject of this particular thread has a long history of sending slanderous, offensive, and horrific correspondence which attack those he opposes/ dislikes.
It's been shown to me, I've read it, and most of the media is now aware of his personal bias. In short, he's a very creepy writer.
He's also one of those guys who in inevitably crosses the wrong path, at the wrong time - and gets run over by a locomotive. And everyone says, "He had it coming."
With his latest letter, perhaps what we're hearing now is the faint, but growing sound of a train whistle.
Tom, are you really equating Mr. Cannon calling us "disgruntled cranks and tin-hat fringe" to the term Spinmeister? Not to mention his implication that those who disagree with his daughter are neither intelligent or thoughtful! Usually your agruments are better than this, and I think that you have gone way to far in your attempt to place blame on both sides of the issue.
Joe Wertheim
Yes, I approved that anonymous comment, but even though I don't know the author, it was too worthy to throw out.
Elaine
Anonymous,
James IS a good guy, I am glad you said that. I would not have supported his election attempt had I thought otherwise. I think he would give you the shirt off his back.
-Charlotte Stephenson
Yes, Joe, to me “disgruntled cranks” and “spinmeister” are out of the exact same playbook. Neither has anything to do with the merits of the high-school project, and both have everything to do with making the people on the other side look bad.
We have a choice. We can call each other names, or we can debate issues on their merits. Too many people, on both sides of the debate, have chosen to do more of the first and less of the second. That’s hurt us all.
If you think I’ve “gone way too far,” then let’s have your reasoning. Can you honestly tell me that you haven’t seen our side of the debate engage in every single one of the behaviors I called out in my earlier comment?
Cheers,
Tom
Elaine, nobody made the absurd claim that name-calling was the same as “raising our taxes 10.5%...” What was claimed was that us-versus-them pettiness is harmful to our community and stands in the way of real discourse and that both sides of the high-school debate have done more than their fair share of it.
Mr. Franklin, more about your comment: "If you were to write a letter that is critical of your Commissioner, who would you (or should you) disclose that you also ran for the seat"
The recent example of Luke Ravenstahl calling for Franco Harris' resignation as Pittsburgh Promise chairman illustrates the point. Even though Harris' son Dok ran against Ravenstahl for the mayor seat, and likely influenced Ravenstahl's statement, no disclosure was necessary. It was extensively discussed on the talk shows and blogs. Ravenstahl didn't have to explain the relationship between Franco and Dok in his letter. He didn't have to explain his own relationship with District Justice Robert Ravenstahl.
The news media does a fine job of explaining these things.
Elaine Gillen ran against Joe DeIuliis in the primary to get on the general election ballot. I was her campaign manager. Joe DeIuliis now enjoys life as a private citizen due to his loss in the general election. Does Elaine need to clarify she ran against Joe in the primary every time she is critical of Kristen Linfante? Of course not.
The problem I see with James Cannon Sr.'s letter to the editor is, he stays out of public scrutiny more than his children because he is not running or holding elected office, yet he has the same name as his son, and the public is not sure which Cannon wrote the letter.
The Almanac should have confirmed Mr. Cannon Sr.'s identity and posted an editorial clarification with the letter.
Mr. Cannon Jr. has every right to clarify the name similarity with all who read the Almanac publication. Mr. Cannon Jr. has taken the extra step of explaining his relationships with Mr. Cannon Sr. and Ms. Posti. Cannon Sr. and Posti have not made similar clarifications, and they are not required to.
In the midst of all this, Moertel and Franklin are commenting from the sidelines about what they observe.
Instead of choosing a side, it's always safer to step back and criticize those who are in the debate.
James Cannon Jr. and Elaine will continue to point out faults of our government and the elected officials who run it. Instead of choosing sides, we should all be more vigilant and express our concerns about local government.
David Huston
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