This blog is mainly about the spectacular train wreck at The Sacramento Bee and its parent company, the McClatchy Company. But I also post about current events, the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, politics, anything else that grabs my attention. Take a look around this blog, hope you enjoy it.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday November 10 -- Got news or an update?
If you have news or an update, leave it in comments. . . .
28 comments:
Anonymous
said...
CNN President Hilariously Spins Ratings Plunge (NewsBusters)
"My dog ate our ratings."
Okay, that wasn't one of the lame excuses that CNN president Jon Klein came up with to explain away that network's drastic plunge in the ratings but the ones he did dream up were equally hilarious.
Try this one on for size...their low ratings can be explained away because they don't run cartoons during slow periods.
The CNN hilarious excuse entertainment was provided courtesy of this Matea Gold Los Angeles Times story which first listed the ratings woes facing that network:
...the network has lost much of the gains it made during the political boom time. CNN has drawn an average of 932,000 viewers in prime time this year, down 25% compared with the same point last year, according to Nielsen.
The trend has worsened as the year has progressed. In October, it recorded its smallest audience of the year, barely edging out its sister network HLN to avoid placing fourth in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic in prime time. (Among total viewers, CNN still beat MSNBC across all programming, but placed a distant second to Fox News.)
...CNN is even feeling the slump on nights when it is expected to dominate. On Tuesday, it placed fourth with its election coverage, attracting just 826,000 viewers in prime time.
Fox News had more than 4 million, while MSNBC drew 974,000 and HLN (which didn't cover the election) had 842,000.
Vladimir Lenin died from syphilis, new research claims (Will it take that long to tell the truth about Arafag dying of AIDS?) The Telegraph UK
Helen Rappaport, an acclaimed historian and author, said that books, papers and journals charting Lenin’s last years show that he contracted the sexually transmitted disease and that it ultimately claimed his life.
She said Lenin showed many symptoms of syphilis and that many among the Soviet hierarchy believed he had it.
But they were banned from speaking in public and threatened with death because of the embarrassment it would cause.
Instead, official documents show that his death was attributed to declining health following three stokes and an assassination attempt in 1918.
Central to Miss Rappaport’s case was a report written by the celebrated scientist Ivan Pavlov – famous for his Pavlov’s Dog’s theory – which claimed that the "revolution was made by a madman with syphilis of the brain."
While public criticism of Lenin was banned and anyone found guilty of doing so would be often be killed, Pavlov was free to be so scathing because Lenin had granted him immunity in order to trade on his pre-eminence in the world’s scientific community.
Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks, the vanguards of communism, led the 1917 October revolution, part of the Russian revolution which overthrew the Government and installed the Soviets....
Minneapolis “Red” Star Tribune to cut about 100 jobs (Six weeks out of Bankruptcy too and now 100 More Unemployed Commies)
The Star Tribune is cutting another 100 jobs companywide to further shave costs after bankruptcy.
The company's operating committee announced the cuts this morning, saying that the "cracking of our historical economic model and the current Great Recession have forced us to move quickly to make meaningful and difficult adjustments over the next few months."
About 30 of the cuts will come from the newsroom and editorial staff -- about a 10 percent reduction -- Star Tribune Editor Nancy Barnes said. The company said most of the cuts would be completed by the end of the year, but that the 30 cuts to come from the newsroom may take a little longer.
The Star Tribune exited bankruptcy Sept. 28, eight months after falling circulation and ad revenue drove the company's previous owners to seek protection from creditors.
Democrat Rep. Jim Costa Got $128M for school in his district for Obamacare "yes" vote FOX NEWS
Bret Baier reported on Fox News reported today that Republican Congressman Jim Costa received $128million in federal funding for a school in his district for his vote for the healthcare bill in Congress.
Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
Obama To His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
His SEIU lackeys did the rest.
The police report of Kenneth Gladney’s beatdown by SEIU thugs was posted today at Big Government. From the report:
“Witness H. Himes stated that as he was leaving the high school he saw suspect McGowan talking to victim Gladney.
He stated he saw suspect McGowan reach over the table and punch victim Gladney in the face.
This assault knocked the victim off balance. Suspect Molens then went around and pulled victim Gladney over the table backwards by the back of his shirt collar.
He began to punch and kick victim Gladney. Witness H. Himes added that while suspect Molens was kicking and punching victim Gladney, suspect McGowan then joined in on the assault.”
Paterson delivers Scary News To Legislature, Says Only Way To Fix Problem Is To Have Immediate Cuts To Education, Hospitals
Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.
To some lawmakers it's nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn't cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month.
"We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.
And so began what is turning out to be a tense tug of war between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature. The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how -- or else.
The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.
Ledger-Enquirer cuts staff, open positions (Why don’t they just raise the price)
Further tightening its belt, Ledger-Enquirer Publisher Valerie Canepa said Friday the newspaper is laying off two mid-level managers and will not fill three full-time open positions.
The Ledger-Enquirer, which dates to 1828, currently has 162 full-time equivalent employees — down nearly 14 percent, or 26 staffers, from a year ago.
The newspaper, owned by Sacramento, Calif.-based The McClatchy Company, has used employee buyouts, layoffs, a wage freeze and pay cuts over the last 16 months to manage through the economic downturn. Most employees are now taking weeklong unpaid furloughs.
“With 2009 coming to a close, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the length and depth of the recession will require expense containment,” Canepa said in an e-mail to employees. “We have, as you are painfully aware, cut costs in all departments and put the Page Building up for sale.”
The R.W. Page Building is the 6-story office tower adjacent to the printing plant/distribution center and the wing that houses the newsroom, advertising and other departments.
The two management cuts will be in the Ledger-Enquirer’s finance and circulation departments. The affected staffers will depart Nov. 20, Canepa wrote in her e-mail. They will receive severance pay.
“I know that these announcements are especially tough because they mean saying goodbye to friends,” Canepa wrote.
“However, we must stay focused on navigating through this prolonged recession and responsibly managing this 180-year-old newspaper.”
The publisher said no further staffing cuts are planned.
“This should get us to where we need to be starting the year,” she said.
The publisher also pointed out in her e-mail that the Ledger-Enquirer recently asked Columbus Consolidated Government for a temporary emergency tax break, but was rebuffed, with the city saying it needs the revenue.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette owner Block Communications made a job buyout offer to more than 140 of the newspaper's managers in an attempt to cut costs, company officials said Thursday.
The offer, extended Wednesday to all 144 of the P-G's non-union employees, was the newspaper's third buyout offer in 13 months.
In a statement, P-G President Chris Chamberlain described the move as "simply an effort to reduce expenses, given the difficult economic environment." P-G officials declined to specify how much in costs the newspaper hoped to save, details of the offer or how long managers have to accept it.
Nor would they say if there would be layoffs if few employees accept the offer.
"It's a private matter between us and our employees," said marketing director Tracey DeAngelo.
The newspaper, which employs about 900 people total, is owned by Block Communications of Toledo, Ohio.
Editorial: President Obama Causes More Unemployment (The Washington Times)
Unemployment has reached 10.2 percent. That doesn't include unemployed workers who have abandoned their job search or accepted part-time work. Those two groups would push the unemployment rate to a staggering 17.5 percent.
With the Bureau of Labor Statistics Household Survey showing that 3.8 million jobs have been lost since January, no one but President Obama believes that this year's massive increase in government spending has created or saved 640,239 jobs and the economy would have been even worse without the "stimulus" package.
Yet this same administration promised at the end of February that with the stimulus, unemployment this year would only reach 8 percent.
If only it were so easy to create jobs with government spending. For each $160,000, you get an additional job. The administration hopes this cost eventually will average out to just $92,000 per job.
But no matter how much money we spend, the government doesn't create or save jobs.
Dems Run Out of Town: Tax rage ignites a voter revolt in W'chester hamlet (The New York Post)
LEWISBORO, NY -- The voters' revolt against high taxes and a deep recession was so intense that even community leaders of New York's sleepiest hamlets got tossed.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the tiny town of Lewisboro -- a northern Westchester municipality of 12,000 near the Connecticut border.
Mirroring the upheavals in higher-profile races, like the defeat of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, cranky voters in Lewisboro threw out their own Democratic leaders.
Tea Party Protesters Attack, Hospitalize CA State Worker (MypetJawa)
Did I say tea party protesters? Oops! I meant Obama's brownshirt SEIU union thugs stomping a state worker who threatened to expose the corruption of a local chapter.
A state worker is recovering after a bloody brawl at a union hall. He says members of the local SEIU 1000beat him up and sent him to the hospital all because he wanted to expose alleged corruption within the union.
Ken Hamidi is a state worker at the California Franchise Tax Board. Last night he walked into a union hall in Sacramento for an SEIU local 1000 meeting.
Barack Obama's peeps, these salt-of-the-Earth SEIU union thugs. "Hitting back twice as hard," and "getting in their faces," as it were.
Yeah. Those rightwingnuts sure are fomenting a lot of violence these days - but it seems instead to be the violent freakouts of their Obamacrat opponents.
EVERYBODY KNOWS that no Obamacrat would ever lash out violently at a political opponent - real or perceived. Right?
Except for that one time this summer Ken Gladney got stomped by SEIU thugs for standing on a sidewalk, or that other time when an Obamacrat bit the finger off a protester who in essence told said Obamacrat to keep the change.
So violent, those teabaggers. So brownshirt-like, aren't they?
Terrorists behead hostage in the Philippines, but let's not jump to any conclusions! AFP
The Philippine government on Monday vowed to take revenge against Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants after they dumped the severed head of a kidnapped school principal at a petrol station.
The head of Gabriel Canizares was found inside a bag at the petrol station on the restive southern island of Jolo at dawn, 22 days after he was abducted, but the rest of his body remained missing, local police said.
Democrat Who Voted No on Pelosi Health Bill Says It Will ‘Ultimately Lead to a Single-Payer System’ (CNS News)
Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), who voted against the Pelosi health-care reform bill that was approved by the House yesterday, said he did so because it raises taxes and will lead to a single-payer health care system in the United States.
The bill—the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”—passed the House late on Saturday evening. The final vote was 220 to 215.
Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the proposal and only one Republican, freshman Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for it.
In town hall meetings in August, Boren told constituents he would not support a health care bill that raised taxes on small businesses or that included a public option.
“While I support improving health care access for all Oklahomans, just as I told constituents in August, I cannot vote for the health care bill that is currently before the House of Representatives,” Boren said in a statement explaining his vote.
“The worst thing we could do during a recession is raise taxes and this bill does just that,” said Boren.
“I also believe the public option would ultimately lead to a single-payer health care system,” Boren added.
“Although I support eliminating health insurance companies’ ability to deny applicants coverage based on pre-existing conditions, this 2,000-page and $1 trillion bill, is just not the answer to America’s health care problems,” said Boren.
Republican Congressman Jim Costa received $128million in federal funding for a school in his district for his vote for the healthcare bill in Congress.
You know it had 'nothing' to do with his vote.
Simple solution, everyone that voted 'yes' on this, vote them out next election.
Wisconsin can't attract a dem candidate for governor in 2010.
Wisconsin Governor Doyle has ruined the state (WI is a microcosm in the mold of the Feds).
Our dem gov bowed out of the gov race a couple months ago. So, of course the GOP is running several candidates. Who's going to fill the dem opening, so far,
NO ONE! What Democrat can run on the lib ticket? Is Wisconsin paving the way for a democrat defeat across the nation in 2010?
The true rate of unemployment for October 2009 may be 22.1 percent, not the 10.2 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
Unemployment at 22.1 percent, if accurate, would be at numbers not seen since peak unemployment during the 1973 to 1975 recession.
Economist John Williams, publisher of ShadowStats.com, estimates that the peak of unemployment in nonfarm unemployment in the Great Depression of the 1930s would, by his methodology, have registered at 34 to 35 percent in 1933.
So, how does the Obama administration get away with reporting the lower unemployment percentage?
Corsi explained that the Clinton administration changed the way BLS calculates unemployment statistics by excluding "discouraged workers," those who had given up looking for a job because there were no jobs to be found.
Since the Clinton years, discouraged workers looking for a job for more than one year are not counted as "unemployed" because they are considered to have dropped out of the labor force.
The BLS still includes in "U6 Unemployment" calculations short-term discouraged workers, as long as they have been looking for a job less than one year.
This definition permits the Obama administration to under-report "U3 unemployment" at 10.2 percent when real unemployment as calculated before the Clinton administration redefinition is twice that amount, Red Alert contends, and U6 unemployment lies somewhere in between.
Irish surgeons paid $1 million for doing nothing (preview of Obamacare)Irish Central
Three Irish surgeons have revealed that they are being paid a whopping $350,000 to do nothing.
The three orthopedic consultants at Letterkenny General Hospital in County Donegal have revealed that the Irish Health Service is paying them to “sit around doing nothing” while operating theaters are empty.
Senior consultant and team leader, Peter O’Rourke said he is “frustrated and depressed” about the current working climate in Letterkenny General Hospital.
The surgeon claims there is little or no work for his team in the busy hospital despite massive waiting lists for essential knee and hip surgeries known as elective surgeries.
The health service has put such surgeries on hold until next year as the “elective” budget has overrun by $3.3 million.
“I’m sitting here in my office looking out my window at a digger piling up clay on the site of the new emergency department when I should be at work in an operating theater,” said Dr O’Rourke.
Whom Does AARP Represent? Seniors Realize It's No Longer Clear (The Press of Atlantic City)
Clearly something must be up with AARP. Why else would the nation's largest lobbying organization, sworn to protect the interests of senior citizens, watch silently as Congress plans to cut Medicare spending by $400 billion to pay for its health reform legislation?
Could it be that the interests of seniors and AARP are not exactly aligned? Let's follow the money.....
'Pittsburgh Post-Gazette' Enters Third Round of Buyouts (Editor and Publisher)
NEW YORK Block Communications is extending buyouts to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to more than 144 managers, the Tribune-Review reported.
The packages are being offered to non-union employees in an effort to trim costs. The paper employs roughly 900 people.
This is the paper's third buyout offer in 13 months, the Tribune-Review reported.
"This measure is similar to ones made by many other strong companies across the country and in this market," Chris Chamberlain, the paper's president, said in the story. "We feel that this move, along with the success of numerous new revenue initiatives, will ensure the continued strength of the P-G."
Obama: hard for Iran to make quick decisions (Reuters)
An unsettled political situation in Iran may be complicating efforts to seal a nuclear fuel deal between Tehran and major world powers, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
Obama told Reuters in an interview that the United States had made more progress toward global nuclear non-proliferation in the last several months than in the past several years.
"But it is going to take time, and part of the challenge that we face is that neither North Korea nor Iran seem to be settled enough politically to make quick decisions on these issues," he said at the White House.
The Guardian reports Iran has had a breakthrough in its nuclear weapon program:
“The UN’s nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a “two-point implosion” device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design.
The development was today described by nuclear experts as “breathtaking” and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.”
Despite this report, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs seemingly hasn’t even been briefed on the subject:
snip
I’m curious. Is the White House aware of this? Is it concerned about it in any way, shape or form?
Gibbs: Let me check with NSC on that. I don’t have anything on that. (The NSC staff informed Fox later it would have no comment at all on this matter)”
Where is Iran’s nuclear weapon program on the Obama Administration’s list of priorities? It’s pretty clear that talking to Iran is high on the list but are the details of Iran’s weapon program even on their radar?
Trial Begins For Corrupt Baltimore Mayor & Obama Supporter
The trial began on Monday for Obama supporter and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon on corruption charges.
Mayor Sheila Dixon went on trial on corruption charges on Monday, the result of a state inquiry started in 2006 that has cast a cloud over Ms. Dixon’s administration despite her best efforts to keep the focus on running the city.
The case involves seven counts of theft and embezzlement stemming from accusations that Ms. Dixon used $1,500 worth of gift cards intended for needy families while she was City Council president and mayor.
Ms. Dixon is also likely to face a second trial on two perjury counts in the coming months. Those charges stem from an accusation that Ms. Dixon failed to report gifts on city ethics forms — cash, travel and clothes — from Ronald H. Lipscomb, whom Ms. Dixon dated in 2003 and 2004.
During those years, Mr. Lipscomb’s company received millions of dollars’ worth of city tax credits for its development projects.
US judge nixes credit in bid for Philly newspapers By MARYCLAIRE DALE; Associated Press Writer Published: 11/10/09 12:18 pm
PHILADELPHIA --
A judge says creditors trying to take over Philadelphia's two major newspapers in a bankruptcy auction must bid in cash, not with the $300 million owed them.
The decision Tuesday overturns a bankruptcy court ruling that seemed likely to give The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News to creditors.
The newspapers had appealed in an effort to hold on to the company at next week's scheduled auction.
U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno agreed the newspapers do not have to allow credit bidding.
A group of current and new investors has offered an opening bid of $67 million in cash and real estate to settle the $300 million debt held by senior lenders.
28 comments:
CNN President Hilariously Spins Ratings Plunge (NewsBusters)
"My dog ate our ratings."
Okay, that wasn't one of the lame excuses that CNN president Jon Klein came up with to explain away that network's drastic plunge in the ratings but the ones he did dream up were equally hilarious.
Try this one on for size...their low ratings can be explained away because they don't run cartoons during slow periods.
The CNN hilarious excuse entertainment was provided courtesy of this Matea Gold Los Angeles Times story which first listed the ratings woes facing that network:
...the network has lost much of the gains it made during the political boom time. CNN has drawn an average of 932,000 viewers in prime time this year, down 25% compared with the same point last year, according to Nielsen.
The trend has worsened as the year has progressed. In October, it recorded its smallest audience of the year, barely edging out its sister network HLN to avoid placing fourth in the key 25- to 54-year-old demographic in prime time. (Among total viewers, CNN still beat MSNBC across all programming, but placed a distant second to Fox News.)
...CNN is even feeling the slump on nights when it is expected to dominate. On Tuesday, it placed fourth with its election coverage, attracting just 826,000 viewers in prime time.
Fox News had more than 4 million, while MSNBC drew 974,000 and HLN (which didn't cover the election) had 842,000.
President B. Hussein Obama: Let's Not "Jump to Conclusions" on Hassan, But Oh, By the Way, Those "Tea-Bag People" are "Extremists" (ace.mu.nu)
Vladimir Lenin died from syphilis, new research claims (Will it take that long to tell the truth about Arafag dying of AIDS?) The Telegraph UK
Helen Rappaport, an acclaimed historian and author, said that books, papers and journals charting Lenin’s last years show that he contracted the sexually transmitted disease and that it ultimately claimed his life.
She said Lenin showed many symptoms of syphilis and that many among the Soviet hierarchy believed he had it.
But they were banned from speaking in public and threatened with death because of the embarrassment it would cause.
Instead, official documents show that his death was attributed to declining health following three stokes and an assassination attempt in 1918.
Central to Miss Rappaport’s case was a report written by the celebrated scientist Ivan Pavlov – famous for his Pavlov’s Dog’s theory – which claimed that the "revolution was made by a madman with syphilis of the brain."
While public criticism of Lenin was banned and anyone found guilty of doing so would be often be killed, Pavlov was free to be so scathing because Lenin had granted him immunity in order to trade on his pre-eminence in the world’s scientific community.
Lenin, the leader of the Bolsheviks, the vanguards of communism, led the 1917 October revolution, part of the Russian revolution which overthrew the Government and installed the Soviets....
Minneapolis “Red” Star Tribune to cut about 100 jobs (Six weeks out of Bankruptcy too and now 100 More Unemployed Commies)
The Star Tribune is cutting another 100 jobs companywide to further shave costs after bankruptcy.
The company's operating committee announced the cuts this morning, saying that the "cracking of our historical economic model and the current Great Recession have forced us to move quickly to make meaningful and difficult adjustments over the next few months."
About 30 of the cuts will come from the newsroom and editorial staff -- about a 10 percent reduction -- Star Tribune Editor Nancy Barnes said. The company said most of the cuts would be completed by the end of the year, but that the 30 cuts to come from the newsroom may take a little longer.
The Star Tribune exited bankruptcy Sept. 28, eight months after falling circulation and ad revenue drove the company's previous owners to seek protection from creditors.
Why do we have to read British papers to get Ft. Hood jihadist news?! (Michelle Malkin)
The London Telegraph has the bombshell report on Ft. Hood jihadist Nidal Hassan’s ties to the September 11 terrorists.
Read and re-read here for the full investigative piece.
Allahpundit has a full round-up and commentary on the Telegraph’s revelations here.
Question: Why is it that we have to read British papers to get the unvarnished truths about the Ft. Hood Muslim mass murderer?
Democrat Rep. Jim Costa Got $128M for school in his district for Obamacare "yes" vote FOX NEWS
Bret Baier reported on Fox News reported today that Republican Congressman Jim Costa received $128million in federal funding for a school in his district for his vote for the healthcare bill in Congress.
Kenneth Gladney Police Report Describes Brutal SEIU Beatdown (GatewayPundit)
Barack Obama gave his marching orders:
Obama: “They Bring a Knife…We Bring a Gun”
Obama to His Followers: “Get in Their Faces!”
Obama on ACORN Mobs: “I don’t want to quell anger. I think people are right to be angry! I’m angry!”
Obama To His Mercenary Army: “Hit Back Twice As Hard”
His SEIU lackeys did the rest.
The police report of Kenneth Gladney’s beatdown by SEIU thugs was posted today at Big Government.
From the report:
“Witness H. Himes stated that as he was leaving the high school he saw suspect McGowan talking to victim Gladney.
He stated he saw suspect McGowan reach over the table and punch victim Gladney in the face.
This assault knocked the victim off balance. Suspect Molens then went around and pulled victim Gladney over the table backwards by the back of his shirt collar.
He began to punch and kick victim Gladney. Witness H. Himes added that while suspect Molens was kicking and punching victim Gladney, suspect McGowan then joined in on the assault.”
Paterson: NYS Will Be Broke Before Christmas CBS
Paterson delivers Scary News To Legislature, Says Only Way To Fix Problem Is To Have Immediate Cuts To Education, Hospitals
Governor David Paterson called an unusual joint session of the Legislature Monday to implore recalcitrant lawmakers to close the state's huge budget gap before New York runs out of money.
To some lawmakers it's nothing more than a photo op to help Paterson get re-elected. But the governor is dead serious. He said if the Legislature doesn't cut the budget now the state could run out of money by next month.
"We're going to run out of cash in four and a half weeks. We are going to run out of money. Unless we do something about it, (it will) threaten generations," Paterson said.
And so began what is turning out to be a tense tug of war between Gov. Paterson and the Legislature.
The governor says $3.2 billion in cuts must be enacted how -- or else.
The cuts range from $500 million in agency spending to over $1 billion in already committed in aid to school districts and hospitals.
Ledger-Enquirer cuts staff, open positions (Why don’t they just raise the price)
Further tightening its belt, Ledger-Enquirer Publisher Valerie Canepa said Friday the newspaper is laying off two mid-level managers and will not fill three full-time open positions.
The Ledger-Enquirer, which dates to 1828, currently has 162 full-time equivalent employees — down nearly 14 percent, or 26 staffers, from a year ago.
The newspaper, owned by Sacramento, Calif.-based The McClatchy Company, has used employee buyouts, layoffs, a wage freeze and pay cuts over the last 16 months to manage through the economic downturn. Most employees are now taking weeklong unpaid furloughs.
“With 2009 coming to a close, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the length and depth of the recession will require expense containment,” Canepa said in an e-mail to employees. “We have, as you are painfully aware, cut costs in all departments and put the Page Building up for sale.”
The R.W. Page Building is the 6-story office tower adjacent to the printing plant/distribution center and the wing that houses the newsroom, advertising and other departments.
The two management cuts will be in the Ledger-Enquirer’s finance and circulation departments. The affected staffers will depart Nov. 20, Canepa wrote in her e-mail. They will receive severance pay.
“I know that these announcements are especially tough because they mean saying goodbye to friends,” Canepa wrote.
“However, we must stay focused on navigating through this prolonged recession and responsibly managing this 180-year-old newspaper.”
The publisher said no further staffing cuts are planned.
“This should get us to where we need to be starting the year,” she said.
The publisher also pointed out in her e-mail that the Ledger-Enquirer recently asked Columbus Consolidated Government for a temporary emergency tax break, but was rebuffed, with the city saying it needs the revenue.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette offers managers buyouts
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette owner Block Communications made a job buyout offer to more than 140 of the newspaper's managers in an attempt to cut costs, company officials said Thursday.
The offer, extended Wednesday to all 144 of the P-G's non-union employees, was the newspaper's third buyout offer in 13 months.
In a statement, P-G President Chris Chamberlain described the move as "simply an effort to reduce expenses, given the difficult economic environment."
P-G officials declined to specify how much in costs the newspaper hoped to save, details of the offer or how long managers have to accept it.
Nor would they say if there would be layoffs if few employees accept the offer.
"It's a private matter between us and our employees," said marketing director Tracey DeAngelo.
The newspaper, which employs about 900 people total, is owned by Block Communications of Toledo, Ohio.
Editorial: President Obama Causes More Unemployment (The Washington Times)
Unemployment has reached 10.2 percent. That doesn't include unemployed workers who have abandoned their job search or accepted part-time work. Those two groups would push the unemployment rate to a staggering 17.5 percent.
With the Bureau of Labor Statistics Household Survey showing that 3.8 million jobs have been lost since January, no one but President Obama believes that this year's massive increase in government spending has created or saved 640,239 jobs and the economy would have been even worse without the "stimulus" package.
Yet this same administration promised at the end of February that with the stimulus, unemployment this year would only reach 8 percent.
If only it were so easy to create jobs with government spending. For each $160,000, you get an additional job. The administration hopes this cost eventually will average out to just $92,000 per job.
But no matter how much money we spend, the government doesn't create or save jobs.
Dems Run Out of Town: Tax rage ignites a voter revolt in W'chester hamlet (The New York Post)
LEWISBORO, NY -- The voters' revolt against high taxes and a deep recession was so intense that even community leaders of New York's sleepiest hamlets got tossed.
Nowhere was this more evident than in the tiny town of Lewisboro -- a northern Westchester municipality of 12,000 near the Connecticut border.
Mirroring the upheavals in higher-profile races, like the defeat of New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine, cranky voters in Lewisboro threw out their own Democratic leaders.
Tea Party Protesters Attack, Hospitalize CA State Worker (MypetJawa)
Did I say tea party protesters?
Oops! I meant Obama's brownshirt SEIU union thugs stomping a state worker who threatened to expose the corruption of a local chapter.
A state worker is recovering after a bloody brawl at a union hall. He says members of the local SEIU 1000beat him up and sent him to the hospital all because he wanted to expose alleged corruption within the union.
Ken Hamidi is a state worker at the California Franchise Tax Board. Last night he walked into a union hall in Sacramento for an SEIU local 1000 meeting.
Barack Obama's peeps, these salt-of-the-Earth SEIU union thugs. "Hitting back twice as hard," and "getting in their faces," as it were.
Yeah. Those rightwingnuts sure are fomenting a lot of violence these days - but it seems instead to be the violent freakouts of their Obamacrat opponents.
EVERYBODY KNOWS that no Obamacrat would ever lash out violently at a political opponent - real or perceived. Right?
Except for that one time this summer Ken Gladney got stomped by SEIU thugs for standing on a sidewalk, or that other time when an Obamacrat bit the finger off a protester who in essence told said Obamacrat to keep the change.
So violent, those teabaggers. So brownshirt-like, aren't they?
Terrorists behead hostage in the Philippines, but let's not jump to any conclusions! AFP
The Philippine government on Monday vowed to take revenge against Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants after they dumped the severed head of a kidnapped school principal at a petrol station.
The head of Gabriel Canizares was found inside a bag at the petrol station on the restive southern island of Jolo at dawn, 22 days after he was abducted, but the rest of his body remained missing, local police said.
Democrat Who Voted No on Pelosi Health Bill Says It Will ‘Ultimately Lead to a Single-Payer System’ (CNS News)
Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.), who voted against the Pelosi health-care reform bill that was approved by the House yesterday, said he did so because it raises taxes and will lead to a single-payer health care system in the United States.
The bill—the “Affordable Health Care for America Act”—passed the House late on Saturday evening.
The final vote was 220 to 215.
Thirty-nine House Democrats voted against the proposal and only one Republican, freshman Rep. Joseph Cao of Louisiana, voted for it.
In town hall meetings in August, Boren told constituents he would not support a health care bill that raised taxes on small businesses or that included a public option.
“While I support improving health care access for all Oklahomans, just as I told constituents in August, I cannot vote for the health care bill that is currently before the House of Representatives,” Boren said in a statement explaining his vote.
“The worst thing we could do during a recession is raise taxes and this bill does just that,” said Boren.
“I also believe the public option would ultimately lead to a single-payer health care system,” Boren added.
“Although I support eliminating health insurance companies’ ability to deny applicants coverage based on pre-existing conditions, this 2,000-page and $1 trillion bill, is just not the answer to America’s health care problems,” said Boren.
Republican Congressman Jim Costa received $128million in federal funding for a school in his district for his vote for the healthcare bill in Congress.
You know it had 'nothing' to do with his vote.
Simple solution, everyone that voted 'yes' on this, vote them out next election.
Wisconsin can't attract a dem candidate for governor in 2010.
Wisconsin Governor Doyle has ruined the state (WI is a microcosm in the mold of the Feds).
Our dem gov bowed out of the gov race a couple months ago. So, of course the GOP is running several candidates. Who's going to fill the dem opening, so far,
NO ONE! What Democrat can run on the lib ticket? Is Wisconsin paving the way for a democrat defeat across the nation in 2010?
Shocking numbers: Real unemployment tops 22%:
The true rate of unemployment for October 2009 may be 22.1 percent, not the 10.2 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Jerome Corsi's Red Alert reports.
Unemployment at 22.1 percent, if accurate, would be at numbers not seen since peak unemployment during the 1973 to 1975 recession.
Economist John Williams, publisher of ShadowStats.com, estimates that the peak of unemployment in nonfarm unemployment in the Great Depression of the 1930s would, by his methodology, have registered at 34 to 35 percent in 1933.
So, how does the Obama administration get away with reporting the lower unemployment percentage?
Corsi explained that the Clinton administration changed the way BLS calculates unemployment statistics by excluding "discouraged workers," those who had given up looking for a job because there were no jobs to be found.
Since the Clinton years, discouraged workers looking for a job for more than one year are not counted as "unemployed" because they are considered to have dropped out of the labor force.
The BLS still includes in "U6 Unemployment" calculations short-term discouraged workers, as long as they have been looking for a job less than one year.
This definition permits the Obama administration to under-report "U3 unemployment" at 10.2 percent when real unemployment as calculated before the Clinton administration redefinition is twice that amount, Red Alert contends, and U6 unemployment lies somewhere in between.
Irish surgeons paid $1 million for doing nothing (preview of Obamacare)Irish Central
Three Irish surgeons have revealed that they are being paid a whopping $350,000 to do nothing.
The three orthopedic consultants at Letterkenny General Hospital in County Donegal have revealed that the Irish Health Service is paying them to “sit around doing nothing” while operating theaters are empty.
Senior consultant and team leader, Peter O’Rourke said he is “frustrated and depressed” about the current working climate in Letterkenny General Hospital.
The surgeon claims there is little or no work for his team in the busy hospital despite massive waiting lists for essential knee and hip surgeries known as elective surgeries.
The health service has put such surgeries on hold until next year as the “elective” budget has overrun by $3.3 million.
“I’m sitting here in my office looking out my window at a digger piling up clay on the site of the new emergency department when I should be at work in an operating theater,” said Dr O’Rourke.
Whom Does AARP Represent? Seniors Realize It's No Longer Clear
(The Press of Atlantic City)
Clearly something must be up with AARP. Why else would the nation's largest lobbying organization, sworn to protect the interests of senior citizens, watch silently as Congress plans to cut Medicare spending by $400 billion to pay for its health reform legislation?
Could it be that the interests of seniors and AARP are not exactly aligned? Let's follow the money.....
'Pittsburgh Post-Gazette' Enters Third Round of Buyouts (Editor and Publisher)
NEW YORK Block Communications is extending buyouts to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to more than 144 managers, the Tribune-Review reported.
The packages are being offered to non-union employees in an effort to trim costs. The paper employs roughly 900 people.
This is the paper's third buyout offer in 13 months, the Tribune-Review reported.
"This measure is similar to ones made by many other strong companies across the country and in this market," Chris Chamberlain, the paper's president, said in the story. "We feel that this move, along with the success of numerous new revenue initiatives, will ensure the continued strength of the P-G."
The Obama Record After 10 Months
10.2%........Unemployment Rate & Rising (Up 42% from Inauguration Day)
17.5%........Total Underemployment + Unemployment Rate (Worst in 27 Years)
$787...........Billion “Stimulus” (95% Pork Barrel Spending, Waste & Corruption)
$700+.........Billion TARP Bank Bailout (Crony Capitalism)
$1.6+..........Trillion 2009 Budget Deficit (6,000+ Political Earmarks)
$10+...........Trillion in additional deficit spending (Next 10 Years)
15%+.........Hike in Individual Federal Income Tax Rates in 2010 (Bush Cuts Rescinded)
HOSTILE...Government Takeover of General Motors & Chrysler (ZERO ROI)
HOSTILE...Government Takeover of Sallie Mae (Student Loan Industry)
HOSTILE...$2.4 Trillion Government Takeover of Healthcare Industry (Socialism)
BOGUS......$3 Trillion Cap & Trade House Scam (Junk Science to Kill Capitalism)
40+..............Radical, Anti-American, Far Left Czars (Zero Public Transparency)
WAR..........Declared Against 1st Amendment (Fox News, Talk Radio, Chamber of Commerce)
90+ Days....To respond to a critical request for Afghan Troops (Voting “Present”)
JUMPS.......To conclusion a white police officer “acted stupidly” vs. a black professor (With no factual knowledge)
PLEADS....“Don’t jump to conclusions” in Ft. Hood Muslim Terrorism Murders (Despite overwhelming evidence)
3 Minutes...Of “Shout Outs” BEFORE Robotically Commenting on Ft. Hood Massacre (Zero empathy perceived)
ACORN......Proven to be Obama’s criminal political ground team & strategic partner (RICO & National Fraud Investigations)
FUNDS.......Global Abortions with U.S. Taxpayer Funds (1st Presidential Act)
WEEKLY....Gala White House Parties with Audacious Spending (In Midst of Worst Global Recession Since 1929)
ATTACKS...By White House against Tea Party, Town Hall, 9-12, Healthcare Protestors (Normal, civil, patriotic citizens)
WAR...........Against Middle Class Taxpayers and their Values, Beliefs, Priorities, Dreams & Liberties
U.S.A...........Is No Longer A Christian Nation
RACIAL.....Tensions at Historical Highs (So much for the post-racial climate pledge)
35..............Point Drop in Net Job Approval Rating (Largest in U.S. history)
Obama: hard for Iran to make quick decisions (Reuters)
An unsettled political situation in Iran may be complicating efforts to seal a nuclear fuel deal between Tehran and major world powers, President Barack Obama said on Monday.
Obama told Reuters in an interview that the United States had made more progress toward global nuclear non-proliferation in the last several months than in the past several years.
"But it is going to take time, and part of the challenge that we face is that neither North Korea nor Iran seem to be settled enough politically to make quick decisions on these issues," he said at the White House.
Iran’s Nuclear Breakthrough?PATTERICO
The Guardian reports Iran has had a breakthrough in its nuclear weapon program:
“The UN’s nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a “two-point implosion” device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design.
The development was today described by nuclear experts as “breathtaking” and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.”
Despite this report, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs seemingly hasn’t even been briefed on the subject:
snip
I’m curious. Is the White House aware of this? Is it concerned about it in any way, shape or form?
Gibbs: Let me check with NSC on that. I don’t have anything on that. (The NSC staff informed Fox later it would have no comment at all on this matter)”
Where is Iran’s nuclear weapon program on the Obama Administration’s list of priorities? It’s pretty clear that talking to Iran is high on the list but are the details of Iran’s weapon program even on their radar?
Trial Begins For Corrupt Baltimore Mayor & Obama Supporter
The trial began on Monday for Obama supporter and Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon on corruption charges.
Mayor Sheila Dixon went on trial on corruption charges on Monday, the result of a state inquiry started in 2006 that has cast a cloud over Ms. Dixon’s administration despite her best efforts to keep the focus on running the city.
The case involves seven counts of theft and embezzlement stemming from accusations that Ms. Dixon used $1,500 worth of gift cards intended for needy families while she was City Council president and mayor.
Ms. Dixon is also likely to face a second trial on two perjury counts in the coming months. Those charges stem from an accusation that Ms. Dixon failed to report gifts on city ethics forms — cash, travel and clothes — from Ronald H. Lipscomb, whom Ms. Dixon dated in 2003 and 2004.
During those years, Mr. Lipscomb’s company received millions of dollars’ worth of city tax credits for its development projects.
I haven't been to MW for a while, but it looks like the hemmoraging at McClatchy is continuing un checked. Same 'ol same 'ol
1:14 PM Actually it has accelerated greatly. They simply try and hide their layoffs and do most of it under the radar.
US judge nixes credit in bid for Philly newspapers
By MARYCLAIRE DALE; Associated Press Writer
Published: 11/10/09 12:18 pm
PHILADELPHIA --
A judge says creditors trying to take over Philadelphia's two major newspapers in a bankruptcy auction must bid in cash, not with the $300 million owed them.
The decision Tuesday overturns a bankruptcy court ruling that seemed likely to give The Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News to creditors.
The newspapers had appealed in an effort to hold on to the company at next week's scheduled auction.
U.S. District Judge Eduardo Robreno agreed the newspapers do not have to allow credit bidding.
A group of current and new investors has offered an opening bid of $67 million in cash and real estate to settle the $300 million debt held by senior lenders.
Post a Comment