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The Wabasha County Board meeting today attracted some extra attention. A reader emailed this pic of a sign that was attached to a Ford Explorer parked outside the courthouse.
The board's efforts to get rid of County Administrator Dave Johnson have unleashed amazingly intense reactions from people who think Johnson is the victim of a witch hunt as well as those who think county government needs to be cut (and "welfare parasites" and "spoileded brats" eliminated).
Austin P-B reporter Kay Fate called interim Lyle Schools Superintendent Jim Dusso (on his cellphone) a few days ago and this is how the conversation went:
Dusso: This is Jim.
Fate: Hi, Jim, this is Kay Fate calling from the Austin Post-Bulletin. I was wondering, I just received today, someone faxed me a copy of the no confidence letter and said that...
Dusso: Kay, Kay, I can save both of us a problem, OK?
Fate: OK...
Dusso: I prefer you didn't call me, I find much of what you're doing harassment, I'm not going to respond to anything, so I'm just not going to respond, and please do not call me back at any time, for any reason. Thank you.
Then he hung up.
Again, Dusso is the superintendent of schools in Lyle, on an interim basis, as well as the high school principal.
I understand that Dusso and others are frustrated with the situation in Lyle, but for the top official in a public school district to accuse a reporter of harassing him with routine calls for comment, to say "do not call me back at any time, for any reason," and then to hang up is unprofessional and, for Lyle residents, not helpful.
We're doing our best to report the Lyle story as fully as possible, but it's pretty hard to do when the superintendent and just about all board members have circled the wagons and won't respond to phone calls for information and comment.
And I get paid to do this job...taking unsigned letters like this from readers. No editing required.
What happened to the church announcements????????
In FRIDAY NIGHTS PAPER??
What happened to your REILIGION???
THE ONLY PAPER IN TOWN, YOU HIRE TWO WOMEN TO ADD CRAP AND TAKE RELIGION ANNOCEMENTS OUT OF THE PAPER AND RAISE THE PRICE TO PAY FOR YOUR WOMEN???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
The punch line: We've always run church news on Saturdays -- and we recently added Faith coverage on Wednesdays as well.
More from my correspondent Mr. Palmer:
So fake obscenity is ok, I see. Personal attacks are ok too, as long as they don't threaten violence. Nice to know you care so much about keeping the discussion civil, your stated goal. Personal attacks and profanity, no big deal. Its not like kids learning to read would ever use your website. You say "though if I'd deleted it, it would have been for the personal attack on free4lives" yet I've brought up this exact attack in the past. Misspelled profanity is profanity either way, figured an editor would know that. Isn't that a large part of your job, correcting spelling mistakes in the articles? You look bad when misspellings make it in the articles and you look just as bad allowing misspelled profanity in your heavily moderated comments section.
Regarding "misspelled profanity," would I rather people didn't do it? Sure. But I really don't want to get into policing language in that way...that opens up a whole new avenue of judgment calls. We preview comments to weed out the worst of the worst, not to make every comment conform to our idea of appropriate language.
And Josh seems to criticize our comments section for being "heavily moderated," yet he wants more moderation. Can't win for losing.
On another subject -- let's say we were to run our website the way the Star Tribune, New York Times and others run theirs, allowing visitors to read 20 stories at no charge but then limiting it to subscribers only. Under that system, should only subscribers be allowed to comment?
Should the comments then be identified (no longer anonymous)?
And is that a fair tradeoff for previewing comments?
All hypothetical questions, but the "metering" model that the Strib and Times use is getting some traction and we're looking at it.
You might be interested in this tete a tete I just had a reader regarding our previewing of online comments. His email refers to a comment posted on a story...he excerpts the comment at the top of his message...if you're not interested in the dictionary definition of libel, etc., you can skip to the bottom of his comment for my response.
These are not easy issues. If they were, I'd be watching football and drinking a GT at the moment.
On Nov 19, 2011, at 2:13 PM, J Palmer wrote:
Bullying free4lives?????
Really????
You NAME is free4lives... yet you constantly bit$h and moan anytime someone exercises their right to freedom.
Get a clue...
Then get a life...
That is a comment made by "TheEconomist" in your comments section on a story titled
Unions join Occupy activists in mass protest marches across America
This is offensive and unacceptable. We have discussed this very type of incident, with this very commenter more than a few times. Your censors don't appear to be reading or doing anything when bit$h is able to get through. It hints to me that you have no censors and use a program to filter out naughty words and phrases. Clever of them to find a way around that program. Wait until it catches on, that should be enlightening. I once again call on you to just shut the comments down. You will never be able to police it to the level your paper has set. Here is that level as a friendly reminder. This offense falls under the profane section.
_______________________
New online comment policy
Postbulletin.com welcomes your comments. We've made changes recently to encourage more constructive and civil comments, and to prohibit abuse of comment privileges.
All comments are now screened by Post-Bulletin editors prior to publication. Comments that are libelous, defamatory, discriminatory or profane simply will not be published.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Please keep your comments civil. Libelous, defamatory, discriminatory and profane comments will not be tolerated and you may lose comment privileges without warning. Mean-spirited comments do not lead to constructive dialogue on community issues important to you.
Thank you for your cooperation.
li·bel
[lahy-buhl] Show IPA noun, verb, -beled, -bel·ing or (especially British) -belled, -bel·ling.
noun
1.
Law.
a.
defamation by written or printed words, pictures, or in any form other than by spoken words or gestures.
b.
the act or crime of publishing it.
c.
a formal written declaration or statement, as one containing the allegations of a plaintiff or the grounds of a charge.
2.
anything that is defamatory or that maliciously or damagingly misrepresents.
verb (used with object)
3.
to publish a libel against.
4.
to misrepresent damagingly.
5.
to institute suit against by a libel, as in an admiralty court.
____________
def·a·ma·tion
[def-uh-mey-shuhn] Show IPA
noun the act of defaming; false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel; calumny: She sued the magazine for defamation of character.
_______________
dis·crim·i·na·tion
[dih-skrim-uh-ney-shuhn] Show IPA
noun
1.
an act or instance of discriminating.
2.
treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person or thing belongs rather than on individual merit: racial and religious intolerance and discrimination.
3.
the power of making fine distinctions; discriminating judgment: She chose the colors with great discrimination.
4.
Archaic. something that serves to differentiate.
____________________
pro·fane
[pruh-feyn, proh-] Show IPA adjective, verb, -faned, -fan·ing.
adjective
1.
characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious.
2.
not devoted to holy or religious purposes; unconsecrated; secular (opposed to sacred).
3.
unholy; heathen; pagan: profane rites.
4.
not initiated into religious rites or mysteries, as persons.
5.
common or vulgar.
___________________________________________________________________
I eagerly await your papers adherence to "comments will not be tolerated and you may lose comment privileges without warning". I expect you'll tell me that this is no big deal as he didn't actually use the word, or how its ok because its "marginally" better than the vile filth that used to spew on your site. Your history(or lack thereof) on the matter dictates the tone in which I write, just fyi.
"Mean-spirited comments do not lead to constructive dialogue on community issues important to you." Does this sentance have any meaning at the PB or is it just lip service? Seems like lip service as many times as I've had this conversation with you.
Josh Palmer
Rochester, MN
OK, for those of you still with me...my response, which will be familiar to some of you.
Thanks for the note.
I probably would have let this comment go also, though if I'd deleted it, it would have been for the personal attack on free4lives, not for the fake obscenity...our goal is to delete as few comments as possible and only those that are clearly libelous, defamatory, obscene or aggressive personal attacks.
People use "bit$c"-type spellings, "frickin," etc., frequently...again, we're policing for serious offenses, not juvenile stupidity.
We'll keep an eye on Economist.
A couple of CD reviews I'm working on. Any pre-feedback is appreciated.
Mahler, Symphony No. 6
Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia
Antonio Pappano, conductor
EMI, 2 CDs, $25.98
Mahler protege and conductor Bruno Walter popularized the "Tragic" nickname for the Symphony No. 6, and while the music defies an easy romantic label, it's undeniably dark. From the opening A-minor march, it's a brutal, unrelenting slog, except for the luxurious "Alma theme" in the first movement and the bittersweet Andante, played here as the third movement. Mahler had mixed feelings about whether to place it as the second or third movement, but for me it makes more sense in the third spot, coming just before the mini-symphony of the finale. Pappano, music director of London's Royal Opera House, draws out the Rachmaninoff-like tenderness in that movement and leads a measured, almost stately performance in the outer movements. There's enough drama in the timpani drum-beats and in the two hammer blows (not three -- another Mahler revision), without abusing the dynamics, and throughout, Pappano and orchestra are in full control. The reward for this intense discipline and focus comes at the end, with the genuinely shattering fortissimo climax.
You'll have the "fate motif" drumming in your head for days after listening to this powerful live recording.
++
Mozart Piano Concertos No. 19 and 23, Helene Grimaud, pianist, Bavarian Radio Chamber Orchestra (DG)
Grimaud made some news with this disk, thanks to her one-time collaborator, Claudio Abbado, with whom she had planned to record these concertos. The venerable Italian maestro didn't care for her choice of cadenzas for the first movement of Concerto No. 23, however -- a thrilling, dark-hued improvisation by Busoni -- and the two artists parted company before the recording was produced. Grimaud, a French pianist with immaculate technique, instead pressed the recording with the Bavarian chamber group.
How's the music? It's enchanting Mozart, for one thing, though frankly, knowing the story and how the live recording was a last-minute substitute -- and also how Grimaud conducted from the keyboard -- it's hard not to hear it as somewhat hastily put together, well-played but under-rehearsed, and without a clearly articulated approach. It's definitely a smaller, less symphonic sound than many recordings, which is all to the good, and Grimaud's luxuriously fluid arpeggios and moderate tempos give the music room to breathe. The contretemps over the A major concerto made all the news, but it's Grimaud's facile, playful rendering of the F major No. 19 that's more convincing.
Regarding the Busoni cadenza that caused all the trouble: It's from a musical sensibility more like Liszt's than Mozart's, but it's hardly a radical departure that would cause a maestro to lose sleep. The moment of harmonic transition back to Mozart's score is worth the sidetrip all by itself. Another welcome surprise on the disk is soprano Mojca Erdmann's performance of one of Mozart's most direct and attractive concert arias, "Ch'io mi scordi," with Grimaud and orchestra, as a kind of interlude between the concertos.
-- Jay Furst, Post-Bulletin
Updated Thursday with better quotes...
I've been meaning to read James C. Hormel's memoir, "Fit to Serve," for a few weeks, mostly to pluck out what he has to say about his Austin years but also because he's had a fascinating life. The grandson of Hormel Foods founder George A. Hormel, James Hormel went on to become a diplomat in the Clinton administration and has been throughout much of his life a prominent gay rights activist.
This weekend he's in Austin to sign books, so my window of opportunity for writing a book review has just about closed, but here are a few excerpts from the early chapters, regarding his childhood in Austin.
(When I was a boy) there was a sense, even among my fellow 8-year-olds, that I should be treated differently. In Austin there were the Hormels, and then there was Everybody Else. And I could never, ever be Everybody Else.
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Two dominant smells came from the Hormel packinghouse. The first was the aroma of a smokehouse -- woody and sweet and very pleasant.
The second was altogether different. It came from a dark place known as the Hide Cellar, a giant room at the lowest level of the packinghouse that was filled with thousands of cowhides...they gave off the putrid, indescribable smell of decaying flesh. When the wind blew the wrong way, the odor swept over Austin and everyone in town moaned and groaned until the breeze changed direction.
One particularly glorious spring day, as I recall -- it must have been around 1940 -- I sat with two dozen or so other second-graders in my class at Sumner Elementary School. Our lovely young teacher, Miss Silseth, was writing spelling words on the board. She had opened the classroom's tall, wood-framed windows as wide as they would go...
Cutting to the chase on this one, the putrid packinghouse smell enters the room and a kid teases him that "Old Man Hormel's got his feet out the window again."
+++
When I was a child, Austin was far less than a city but a bit more than a town. Most of its 18,000 residents descended from Norwegian, Swedish and German immigrants who had made farms of the flat meadows and prairies in the century before...in the middle of Main Street was a town square dominated by a magnificent Victorian building of red brick trimmed in white, with a single green-domed tower.
+++
My family lived on the eastern edge of town on a 200-acre estate, several miles from the neat, tree-lined neighborhoods where all the other kids lived...in total, the house had 26 bedrooms and 25 bathrooms, including the powder rooms.
+++
Daddy was born Presbyterian and Mamma a Catholic, but neither went to services on Sunday. When she married outside the faith, Mamma was excommunicated, and she spent much of her middle years trying to get back in the good graces of the Church. (She went so far as to become a major benefactor of a second Catholic church and school in Austin, Queen of Angels.)
+++
One of the occasional visitors was Oscar Mayer, inventor of the famous Oscar Mayer wiener, whose company was a Hormel competitor. He was friend with my grandfather and then my father, whom he affectionately called the Duke of Austin.
OK, that's ripping off about as much as I should, but Hormel has a lot to tell about his youth, and much more as the subtitle suggests: "Reflections on a Secret Life, Private Struggle and Public Battle to Become the First Openly Gay U.S. Ambassador." The headline on the jacket flap: "One man's gripping story of freedom and determination in a heterosexual world."
It's co-written with Erin Martin, and among other Spamtown tidbits, Hormel describes the night his father, Jay C. Hormel, died at the Hormel mansion; how the "Mayos in Rochester" gave the family a dog for Christmas one year; details on the origin and early popularity of Spam; and the pressures of growing up with the expectation that he and his brothers would one day take over the family business.
By coincidence, one of the men who later was in charge of Hormel Foods, former CEO Richard Knowlton, also will be the focus of a public event in Austin this weekend: the renaming of a street in his honor.
Hormel will read from his book and sign copies from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Coffee House on Main, 329 N. Main St., Austin. The Knowlton street dedication will be at 1 p.m. Sunday along the boulevard at Sixth Street and 16th Avenue Northeast, near the Hormel Institute and the Hormel Foods Corporate North building. A public open house will be from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Hormel Institute.
Since we don't run this type of letter to the editor -- not for anti-vegan reasons, and not because the Thanksgiving turkey dinner is my favorite dinner of the year, but because we don't use form letters from national organizations -- in the spirit of the holidays, I'll post it here.
Our friend, the turkey, will appreciate your attention:
Dear Editor,
Here’s yet another reason to a pardon a turkey and enjoy a savory vegan feast this Thanksgiving: A 16-pound turkey costs nearly $4 more this year, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
You can save money—and lives—by whipping up a gourmet vegan meal, including mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables, maple-roasted acorn squash, apple-pecan stuffing, vegetable pot pie, and other versatile—and affordable—vegan foods. Or, if you prefer a ready-made meal, try Tofurky, Field Roast's Celebration Roast, or Savory Stuffed Turk’y from Gardein.
No matter what you end up spending, you’ll be saving a turkey’s life by having a vegan feast this holiday. And for that, I am very thankful. As poultry scientist Tom Savage says, turkeys are “smart animals with personality and character, and keen awareness of their surroundings.” These gentle birds relish having their feathers stroked and like to gobble along to their favorite tunes.
Visit www.PETA.org for more fascinating turkey facts and free vegan recipes, and have a happy and humane holiday.
Sincerely,
Heather Moore
PETA Foundation
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-622-7382, ext. 8106
HeatherM@petaf.org
Note from a reader, which I offered to post here:
Dear Mr. Furst,
I just finished reading the above mentioned column, and found myself thinking, really, we're missing the point here.
It's not really likely that the Penn State mess was created by 'a' or more than one sexual predator. In truth, the activities took place with real men and boys - men who overstepped their authority, abused their role and thought it was their right to do so. This happens, a lot. And we continue to want to put the action in a box, name it, and say it will never happen again. But it will. Because the action is rooted in a systemic, historic and accepted approach to dominant culture. Whoever is dominant sets the rules and controls the outcome. So sure, it would be great if managers paid attention, and took seriously the claims of people who say something is wrong. Generally speaking though, one has to prove that wrong took place. And excuse me for stating the obvious, but children have little power and are not the dominant rule makers. Nor typically, are people of color or gay or lesbians, or for that matter women.
So just put yourself in the shoes of children who have been abused or molested, who have gone to their parents or other people with responsibility for their well being and imagine what you would have to do to convince them that something really happened. And imagine what it would take to even have the courage to say something.
Ok, now put yourself in Mr. Paterno's shoes - he has a young coach come to him and say he saw something that was wrong, and Mr. Paterno listens, probably thinks about what he is hearing, understand the politics of a very beloved football town, thinks about what the president might say, or the police - maybe tells his wife, but probably not because really, who would want to even talk about what goes on in a locker room. Evaluates the situation and decides its just not worth going down that path. Not for him, or the school. He may never even have considered the child's point of view, maybe because he when he grew up, children were seen and not heard, they didn't really have rights. Maybe he even was abused himself and made a decision that its water over the damn or maybe he couldn't handle what he was hearing and so he ignored it. We don't know. But something kept him from taking any action to protect the children.
Ok, now think about generally how we venerate our athletes, its ok for them to be jerks, some of whom abuse their spouses, children, lie about steroid use, do anything for a win. And those coaches who are under pressure to deliver a win . What happened at Penn State has probably happened at other schools. Just like the Catholic Church abuse scandal was not limited to the Catholic Church. Abuse of power happens all the time. And it is particularly prone to men because men have the most power in our culture. Yes we make change slowly, we pass laws to protect people from the parts of each of us that is willing to harm another. What do we do? Talk about the reality of what putting people and institutions on pedestals really means - and if that is in fact what we really want to do. Because as Pogo said a long time ago, we have met the enemy and he is us.
Nancy Kafka
Red Wing
Notes for a column I'm working on for Monday -- any pre-feedback is appreciated.
++
There are endless lessons to be drawn from what happened -- what's happening -- at Penn State. The most important have to do with protecting children from sexual predators, of course. Those have to be learned and relearned every time a criminal tragedy of this kind occurs.
But the lessons also go to the heart of how we interact with people at home, at work and elsewhere, how we conduct ourselves, what we pay attention to, and how we lead, if we're managers.
How could Joe Paterno, the Penn State president, coaches and others have missed or failed to respond immediately and effectively to what was going on? What kept them from responding instantly and going to police? Why didn't these people immediately protect and defend the victims?
We all have our blind spots and imperfections, and we all can learn from what a lot of very bright, talented, ambitious and to all appearances successful people did or failed to do at Penn State.
At the risk of encroaching on Harvey Mackay's territory, here are some lessons to be gleaned from the catastrophic management failure at Penn State. Again, the most important failures were moral and legal and failures of the heart. But managers, including newspaper editors, might draw these lessons.
Pay attention: Too obvious, but is it? A manager has people coming to him or at him all day, from all directions and on all platforms. It's easy to tune out, give it the minimum of attention, get distracted or forget to write it down.
Don't try to do too much, so that it's all but impossible to give important stuff your full attention. Don't micro-manage, overcommit or pack your day to the point where you can't think, or can't respond to events.
Be aware of your own insularity: We all aim to have a comfort zone around us. At Penn State, the whole campus was a luxurious comfort zone for Paterno and football, where the coach was king, answering to no one, even to the president and trustees who wanted to put him out to pasture a decade ago -- perhaps for the reasons we now know. The media was just as complicit in creating that zone as the university trustees and students. In any case, we all have our zone of insularity. How big is yours? Can anyone or anything get through it?
Build a culture where people can challenge assumptions. Can people tell you you're nuts (politely)? Just as important, can you tell them they're nuts?
Know who your "accountability managers" are. We all need them.
Trust your instincts. If you think something is messed up, it probably is.
Don't believe your own press.
Know where your allegiance lies -- and it's more than to the boss.
Be aware of what you can do and no longer do, because of age, years on the job or changes in the workplace and world. Paterno may have been the ideal manager, circa 1974. His talents at age 84 in the year 2011 presumably weren't quite as sharp or appropriate.
Know when to hang it up -- preferably when you're on top. Easier said than done? Not for most of us.
Next week: Management lessons from Tony La Russa.
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