More print coverage of AAR situation

[PW]

Investors Business Daily had an editorial yesterday (the link no longer works) and The Arizona Republic has an op-ed piece today:

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0805maceachern05.html

The New York Sun has another news story today (excerpt):

Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the next two years.

An employee of Air America, who requested anonymity, said yesterday that it received a letter from the city Department of Investigation recommending that the network set up an attorney-managed escrow account for the payments, rather than pay Gloria Wise directly or wait until the department's investigation concludes. The employee said the network made its first payment, of an unknown amount, yesterday.

An official of the city agency, who asked not to be named, said later that the letter asked that the radio network put the entire $875,000 in an escrow account.

Full Story: http://www.nysun.com/article/18148

Nothing yet from The New York Times, which has had 59 news stories on AAR prior to now.

 

[doc9464]

PW, I hope people read this op-ed rather than just comment without readin...I noticed after reading it that you failed to excerpt the most important parts. Normally, I would think that the right wing would distort but it seems that he shared the facts THEN tried to stretch it to a AAR scandal....lets do just that


This excerpt shows that it was Evan Cohen over and over who is the catalyst for this questionable business.....why is it PW that you didn't show that even this right wing columnist even states that Evan Cohen was the source of this. Again, this answers a question I challenged you on earlier....who on the Gloria Wise side would arrange "an investment"...well based on this information it was EVAN COHEN using his spot on the executive committee....so its EVAN on both sides.

If you saw left of the dial...Cohen was shown basically being a major a-shole and liar on screen....people may not have realized that Cohen claimed to the world that he had $30 million in capital for the startup when it fact he had barely raised 6 million...it is a distinct possibility that he was doing these highly unethical and quesionable transactions behind the scene to mask that the capital wasn't available to the new operation....

Here's a bigger question that you won't deal with PW, there was more than one person on the Gloria Wise executive committee... don't you think that one of them, just one of them would think that a Boys and Girls club organization would not be in the business of providing venture capital for a fledgling Radio Network...shouldn't those people have resisted Cohen's requests for money and put their capital into safer investments like oh say blue chip stocks or bonds or mutual funds.....but you don't address that do you PW?

If the city stopped grants to the organization, there seems to be problems within Gloria Wise if this and other issues may have happened to see money shifted around.

PW, your duplicity is so obvious just on your quoting only the parts to attempt to make your argument...you fail to show what Dampier (who has been the best responder) has been trying to get through your hard head.. there can't be a scandal at AAR if they aren't the source of the problem. You and others on the right try to make it sound that Al Franken and the host themselves took $$$ direct from Gloria Wise ....it didnt happen that way and lets hope people will believe the facts....and ignore the effort to conflate the scandal with AAR's current management. Personally, If it wasn't me that caused the problem, I wouldn't paid a cent...but thats why im not a CEO probably...LOL>.. I do realize that its a good public relations thing...so i accept it....

There is a scandal but the columnists also points out that Piquant (the current owner of AAR) may not (using the author's words) have KNOWN that these loans were outstanding. think about that....PW

give it up, PW, people with common sense will get this....those of you sheeple on the right will continue to bleat distortion....

Excerpt follows:

The nugget of this story is just astonishing:

In early 2004, the directors of the nascent Air America network were scouring the nation for potential contributors to its start-up. One of the network's directors, Evan Montvel Cohen, appears to have partially solved the problem by arranging loans from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club that eventually totaled at least $480,000, and possibly more.

According to reports, Cohen was in an advantageous position to secure the loans: In addition to directing Air America, Cohen also served as development director of the Gloria Wise club.

At the same time, it is worth noting, Cohen also secured loans to himself. All told, he borrowed more than $800,000, according to club officials.

In this case, "borrow" seems to be a loose term. The club's president says Cohen made at least one of the Air America loans - $213,000 - without her approval. Cohen no longer works for either the club or the network, and there is some indication that the current owner of Air America, Piquant LLC, may not have been aware of the loans at the time it purchased the network on May 24, 2004.

For the Boys & Girls Club, meanwhile, the results have been disastrous. The New York Department of Investigation announced in June that city grants and contracts to Gloria Wise - about $10 million worth - were to be suspended because its officials had approved "significant inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were submitted to various city agencies."


Exceprt ends here....


Now the distortion.....excerpt follows:

You don't have to be a Columbia School of Journalism grad to sense that this developing story might have legs.

A private media start-up with huge political pretensions and meager financial underpinnings uses taxpayer dollars from a Boys & Girls Club to help pay the salaries of high-profile hosts like comedian Al Franken. As a result of these dubious loans and other self-dealing, the Gloria Wise club will be sending no more poor kids from the Bronx to summer camp. It will be providing a lot fewer services, if any, to the Alzheimer's patients it helped.

"I'm still rocking from the experience," said Anna Capell, 80, a member of the club's executive committee.

Exerpt ends here:

Ms Capell should be rocking if she was one of the people who let this happened....it appears that this organization like Enron, and other companies have management issues...... one cannot blame AAR's current management for these lapses of judgement......or maybe PW likes CEO/managers like Kenny Boy Lay...





> Investors Business Daily had an editorial yesterday (the
> link no longer works) and The Arizona Republic has an op-ed
> piece today:
>
http://www.azcentral> .com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0805maceachern05.html
>
>
> The New York Sun has another news story today (excerpt):
>
> Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's
> Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to
> Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the next
> two years.
>
> An employee of Air America, who requested anonymity, said
> yesterday that it received a letter from the city Department
> of Investigation recommending that the network set up an
> attorney-managed escrow account for the payments, rather
> than pay Gloria Wise directly or wait until the department's
> investigation concludes. The employee said the network made
> its first payment, of an unknown amount, yesterday.
>
> An official of the city agency, who asked not to be named,
> said later that the letter asked that the radio network put
> the entire $875,000 in an escrow account.
>
> Full Story: http://www.nysun.com/article/18148
>
> Nothing yet from The New York Times, which has had 59 news
> stories on AAR prior to now.
>

 

[dampier]

Air America Radio Caught Using Virgin Pulp Paper!!!

> PW, I hope people read this op-ed rather than just comment
> without readin...I noticed after reading it that you failed
> to excerpt the most important parts. Normally, I would think
> that the right wing would distort but it seems that he
> shared the facts THEN tried to stretch it to a AAR
> scandal....lets do just that

Give PW 22 minutes, he'll give you another repetitive post on what passes for a scandal. Next: ToiletGate - AAR Doesn't Use Low Flush Toilets Causing Sudanese Children in Poverty To Have No Water (Washington Times) -or- Al Franken Caught With a Jumbo Family Size Bottle of Ibuprofen (Rush Limbaugh) -or- Randi Rhodes Demeans Catholics By Using the Word Catholic On The Air: Why Is It Always About The Religion? (Sean Hannity).

Irony is best served in small amounts, but you can't do that in the echo chamber where up is down, right is left, and lies are truth.

> PW, your duplicity is so obvious just on your quoting only
> the parts to attempt to make your argument...you fail to
> show what Dampier (who has been the best responder) has been
> trying to get through your hard head.. there can't be a
> scandal at AAR if they aren't the source of the problem. You
> and others on the right try to make it sound that Al Franken
> and the host themselves took $$$ direct from Gloria Wise
> ....it didnt happen that way and lets hope people will
> believe the facts....and ignore the effort to conflate the
> scandal with AAR's current management. Personally, If it
> wasn't me that caused the problem, I wouldn't paid a
> cent...but thats why im not a CEO probably.

Exactly. If this were Enron, Gloria Wise would keep the mansion and her employees would lose their retirement money and health care. Seems to me that Air America following purely voluntary guidance from the DOI about how to best give some money back to this group without it ending up in Cohen's pocket is a win-win for everyone.

Maybe if the right wing pays for the Cohen Legal Defense Fund, he can make up some stuff and feed the echo chamber with that.

 

[PW]

First of all the excerpt was from a news story, not an op-ed piece. I excerpted the portion that had new information and provided a link to the full story. To the rest of your rambling and garbled post, the verdict is not in on Piquant LLC but IF they acquired the assets thru a purchase of the corporation (they haven't said definitively) OR they didn't pay fair market value (they haven't said what they paid or what they bought) OR if the new owners and officer of the new corporation are substantively the same as the old corporation (minus Cohen)OR if there is a bancruptcy OR if Piquant treats members of the same class of creditors differently, THEN the courts COULD make not only the new corporation but its owners liable for all liabilities of the old corporation. The court could pierce the corporate veil.

I haven't emphasized the dealings of the Boys and Girls Club because this is not a Boys and Girls Club board - it's a radio board. Obviously they screwed up.

I haven't accused Al Franken of anything except in your fantasies.

You apparently have read some blogs and are confusing what you have read there with what I have posted. I haven't quoted any blogs or linked to any blogs. This is a straw man arguement. If you want to argue with them, then contact them. It seems to me that what you really want to do is kill this story because you are afraid of what might happen to AAR if the whole truth comes out. I think you are right about that.


> PW, I hope people read this op-ed rather than just comment
> without readin...I noticed after reading it that you failed
> to excerpt the most important parts. Normally, I would think
> that the right wing would distort but it seems that he
> shared the facts THEN tried to stretch it to a AAR
> scandal....lets do just that
>
>
> This excerpt shows that it was Evan Cohen over and over who
> is the catalyst for this questionable business.....why is it
> PW that you didn't show that even this right wing columnist
> even states that Evan Cohen was the source of this. Again,
> this answers a question I challenged you on earlier....who
> on the Gloria Wise side would arrange "an investment"...well
> based on this information it was EVAN COHEN using his spot
> on the executive committee....so its EVAN on both sides.
>
> Here's a bigger question that you won't deal with PW, there
> was more than one person on the Gloria Wise executive
> committee... don't you think that one of them, just one of
> them would think that a Boys and Girls club organization
> would not be in the business of providing venture capital
> for a fledgling Radio Network...shouldn't those people have
> resisted Cohen's requests for money and put their capital
> into safer investments like oh say blue chip stocks or bonds
> or mutual funds.....but you don't address that do you PW?
>
> If the city stopped grants to the organization, there seems
> to be problems within Gloria Wise if this and other issues
> may have happened to see money shifted around.
>
> PW, your duplicity is so obvious just on your quoting only
> the parts to attempt to make your argument...you fail to
> show what Dampier (who has been the best responder) has been
> trying to get through your hard head.. there can't be a
> scandal at AAR if they aren't the source of the problem. You
> and others on the right try to make it sound that Al Franken
> and the host themselves took $$$ direct from Gloria Wise
> ....it didnt happen that way and lets hope people will
> believe the facts....and ignore the effort to conflate the
> scandal with AAR's current management. Personally, If it
> wasn't me that caused the problem, I wouldn't paid a
> cent...but thats why im not a CEO probably...LOL>.. I do
> realize that its a good public relations thing...so i accept
> it....
>
> There is a scandal but its not Piquant (the current owner of
> AAR) may not (using the author's words) have KNOWN that
> these loans were outstanding.
>
> give it up, PW, people with common sense will get
> this....those of you sheeple on the right will continue to
> bleat distortion....
>
> Excerpt follows:
>
> The nugget of this story is just astonishing:
>
> In early 2004, the directors of the nascent Air America
> network were scouring the nation for potential contributors
> to its start-up. One of the network's directors, Evan
> Montvel Cohen, appears to have partially solved the problem
> by arranging loans from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club
> that eventually totaled at least $480,000, and possibly
> more.
>
> According to reports, Cohen was in an advantageous position
> to secure the loans: In addition to directing Air America,
> Cohen also served as development director of the Gloria Wise
> club.
>
> At the same time, it is worth noting, Cohen also secured
> loans to himself. All told, he borrowed more than $800,000,
> according to club officials.
>
> In this case, "borrow" seems to be a loose term. The club's
> president says Cohen made at least one of the Air America
> loans - $213,000 - without her approval. Cohen no longer
> works for either the club or the network, and there is some
> indication that the current owner of Air America, Piquant
> LLC, may not have been aware of the loans at the time it
> purchased the network on May 24, 2004.
>
> For the Boys & Girls Club, meanwhile, the results have been
> disastrous. The New York Department of Investigation
> announced in June that city grants and contracts to Gloria
> Wise - about $10 million worth - were to be suspended
> because its officials had approved "significant
> inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were
> submitted to various city agencies."
>
>
> Exceprt ends here....
>
>
> Now the distortion.....excerpt follows:
>
> You don't have to be a Columbia School of Journalism grad to
> sense that this developing story might have legs.
>
> A private media start-up with huge political pretensions and
> meager financial underpinnings uses taxpayer dollars from a
> Boys & Girls Club to help pay the salaries of high-profile
> hosts like comedian Al Franken. As a result of these dubious
> loans and other self-dealing, the Gloria Wise club will be
> sending no more poor kids from the Bronx to summer camp. It
> will be providing a lot fewer services, if any, to the
> Alzheimer's patients it helped.
>
> "I'm still rocking from the experience," said Anna Capell,
> 80, a member of the club's executive committee.
>
> Exerpt ends here:
>
> Ms Capell should be rocking if she was one of the people who
> let this happened....it appears that this organization like
> Enron, and other companies have management issues...... one
> cannot blame AAR's current management for these lapses of
> judgement......or maybe PW likes CEO/managers like Kenny Boy
> Lay...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Investors Business Daily had an editorial yesterday (the
> > link no longer works) and The Arizona Republic has an
> op-ed
> > piece today:
> >
> http://www.azcentral>
> .com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0805maceachern05.html
>
> >
> >
> > The New York Sun has another news story today (excerpt):
> >
> > Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's
> > Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to
> > Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the
> next
> > two years.
> >
> > An employee of Air America, who requested anonymity, said
> > yesterday that it received a letter from the city
> Department
> > of Investigation recommending that the network set up an
> > attorney-managed escrow account for the payments, rather
> > than pay Gloria Wise directly or wait until the
> department's
> > investigation concludes. The employee said the network
> made
> > its first payment, of an unknown amount, yesterday.
> >
> > An official of the city agency, who asked not to be named,
>
> > said later that the letter asked that the radio network
> put
> > the entire $875,000 in an escrow account.
> >
> > Full Story: http://www.nysun.com/article/18148
> >
> > Nothing yet from The New York Times, which has had 59 news
>
> > stories on AAR prior to now.
> >
>

 

[doc9464]

> First of all the excerpt was from a news story, not an op-ed
> piece. I excerpted the portion that had new information and
> provided a link to the full story.

PW, did you even realize what you posted...look at the link again and look at the page on the AZ republic paper...it says OPINIONS....this guy Doug MacEachen is a WELL known conservative columnist....except for you obviously....

To the rest of your
> rambling and garbled post, the verdict is not in on Piquant
> LLC but IF they acquired the assets thru a purchase of the
> corporation (they haven't said definitively) OR they didn't
> pay fair market value (they haven't said what they paid or
> what they bought) OR if the new owners and officer of the
> new corporation are substantively the same as the old
> corporation (minus Cohen)OR if there is a bancruptcy OR if
> Piquant treats members of the same class of creditors
> differently, THEN the courts COULD make not only the new
> corporation but its owners liable for all liabilities of the
> old corporation. The court could pierce the corporate veil.

Im rambling...I see....most of my post is quoted from your article..which i just responded to. Come on, PW. Who explained this to you? These would be legitimate questions and I believe they would be looked into by the resources dedicated to working this out. Until challenged, you and others aren't asking these type of questions.....ill ask Dampier to also comment but I would't argue on any of these questions. The questions above are not witch hunt issues. The rightwingers and the blogs you refer to are not doing that. They move straight to the claim that Franken and others are stealing from "little kids". You want it both ways PW. Im glad someone gave you some good questions to ask. Maybe you should post that on FreeRepublic or post this article on Lucianne.com or the other strongholds of RW distortion.
>
>
> I haven't emphasized the dealings of the Boys and Girls Club
> because this is not a Boys and Girls Club board - it's a
> radio board. Obviously they screwed up.

You post an article and try to "Fox-ify" AAR but if you wanted to start a real dialogue....the questions I ask are as legitimate as the ones someone gave you above about the financial issues.

>
> I haven't accused Al Franken of anything except in your
> fantasies.
>
> You apparently have read some blogs and are confusing what
> you have read there with what I have posted. I haven't
> quoted any blogs or linked to any blogs. This is a straw
> man arguement. If you want to argue with them, then contact
> them. It seems to me that what you really want to do is
> kill this story because you are afraid of what might happen
> to AAR if the whole truth comes out. I think you are right
> about that.

If i wanted to kill this story, I'd do like the right wing and ignore my "lying eyes". I'm replying back to your post. I'm a full critic of how you, Michelle Malkin, the unemployed Equalizer, and others who are only piling on to "take AAR out" are just muddying the water. I don't have a problem with the truth. I just know that Evan Cohen is the main culprit. If there was anyone who is now at Piquant who was complicit...then I'd say bust them with Evan. I just don't see it now and the right wing is trying to make that connection...like the one Bush makes with Saddam and Osama...and the truth isn't there. Ill answer for my belief if proven wrong. Will you PW when your greatest hope isnt proven true?

Dampier....help please.....

 

[PW]

> > First of all the excerpt was from a news story, not an
> op-ed
> > piece. I excerpted the portion that had new information
> and
> > provided a link to the full story.
>
> PW, did you even realize what you posted...look at the link
> again and look at the page on the AZ republic paper...it
> says OPINIONS....this guy Doug MacEachen is a WELL known
> conservative columnist....except for you obviously....
>
> PW, I hope people read this op-ed rather than just comment
> without readin...I noticed after reading it that you failed
> to excerpt the most important parts. Normally, I would think
> that the right wing would distort but it seems that he
> shared the facts THEN tried to stretch it to a AAR
> scandal....lets do just that
>
>
> This excerpt shows that it was Evan Cohen over and over who
> is the catalyst for this questionable business.....why is it
> PW that you didn't show that even this right wing columnist
> even states that Evan Cohen was the source of this. Again,
> this answers a question I challenged you on earlier....who
> on the Gloria Wise side would arrange "an investment"...well
> based on this information it was EVAN COHEN using his spot
> on the executive committee....so its EVAN on both sides.
>
> Here's a bigger question that you won't deal with PW, there
> was more than one person on the Gloria Wise executive
> committee... don't you think that one of them, just one of
> them would think that a Boys and Girls club organization
> would not be in the business of providing venture capital
> for a fledgling Radio Network...shouldn't those people have
> resisted Cohen's requests for money and put their capital
> into safer investments like oh say blue chip stocks or bonds
> or mutual funds.....but you don't address that do you PW?
>
> If the city stopped grants to the organization, there seems
> to be problems within Gloria Wise if this and other issues
> may have happened to see money shifted around.
>
> PW, your duplicity is so obvious just on your quoting only
> the parts to attempt to make your argument...you fail to
> show what Dampier (who has been the best responder) has been
> trying to get through your hard head.. there can't be a
> scandal at AAR if they aren't the source of the problem. You
> and others on the right try to make it sound that Al Franken
> and the host themselves took $$$ direct from Gloria Wise
> ....it didnt happen that way and lets hope people will
> believe the facts....and ignore the effort to conflate the
> scandal with AAR's current management. Personally, If it
> wasn't me that caused the problem, I wouldn't paid a
> cent...but thats why im not a CEO probably...LOL>.. I do
> realize that its a good public relations thing...so i accept
> it....
>
> There is a scandal but its not Piquant (the current owner of
> AAR) may not (using the author's words) have KNOWN that
> these loans were outstanding.
>
> give it up, PW, people with common sense will get
> this....those of you sheeple on the right will continue to
> bleat distortion....
>
> Excerpt follows:
>
> The nugget of this story is just astonishing:
>
> In early 2004, the directors of the nascent Air America
> network were scouring the nation for potential contributors
> to its start-up. One of the network's directors, Evan
> Montvel Cohen, appears to have partially solved the problem
> by arranging loans from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club
> that eventually totaled at least $480,000, and possibly
> more.
>
> According to reports, Cohen was in an advantageous position
> to secure the loans: In addition to directing Air America,
> Cohen also served as development director of the Gloria Wise
> club.
>
> At the same time, it is worth noting, Cohen also secured
> loans to himself. All told, he borrowed more than $800,000,
> according to club officials.
>
> In this case, "borrow" seems to be a loose term. The club's
> president says Cohen made at least one of the Air America
> loans - $213,000 - without her approval. Cohen no longer
> works for either the club or the network, and there is some
> indication that the current owner of Air America, Piquant
> LLC, may not have been aware of the loans at the time it
> purchased the network on May 24, 2004.
>
> For the Boys & Girls Club, meanwhile, the results have been
> disastrous. The New York Department of Investigation
> announced in June that city grants and contracts to Gloria
> Wise - about $10 million worth - were to be suspended
> because its officials had approved "significant
> inappropriate transactions and falsified documents that were
> submitted to various city agencies."
>
>
> Exceprt ends here....
>
>
> Now the distortion.....excerpt follows:
>
> You don't have to be a Columbia School of Journalism grad to
> sense that this developing story might have legs.
>
> A private media start-up with huge political pretensions and
> meager financial underpinnings uses taxpayer dollars from a
> Boys & Girls Club to help pay the salaries of high-profile
> hosts like comedian Al Franken. As a result of these dubious
> loans and other self-dealing, the Gloria Wise club will be
> sending no more poor kids from the Bronx to summer camp. It
> will be providing a lot fewer services, if any, to the
> Alzheimer's patients it helped.
>
> "I'm still rocking from the experience," said Anna Capell,
> 80, a member of the club's executive committee.
>
> Exerpt ends here:
>
> Ms Capell should be rocking if she was one of the people who
> let this happened....it appears that this organization like
> Enron, and other companies have management issues...... one
> cannot blame AAR's current management for these lapses of
> judgement......or maybe PW likes CEO/managers like Kenny Boy
> Lay...
>
>
>
>
>
> > Investors Business Daily had an editorial yesterday (the
> > link no longer works) and The Arizona Republic has an
> op-ed
> > piece today:
> >
> http://www.azcentral>
> .com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0805maceachern05.html
>
> >
> >
> > The New York Sun has another news story today (excerpt):
> >
> > Piquant LLC, which acquired Air America from Mr. Cohen's
> > Progress Media in May 2004, has agreed to pay $875,000 to
> > Gloria Wise, without interest, in installments over the
> next
> > two years.
> >
> > An employee of Air America, who requested anonymity, said
> > yesterday that it received a letter from the city
> Department
> > of Investigation recommending that the network set up an
> > attorney-managed escrow account for the payments, rather
> > than pay Gloria Wise directly or wait until the
> department's
> > investigation concludes. The employee said the network
> made
> > its first payment, of an unknown amount, yesterday.
> >
> > An official of the city agency, who asked not to be named,
>
> > said later that the letter asked that the radio network
> put
> > the entire $875,000 in an escrow account.
> >
> > Full Story: http://www.nysun.com/article/18148
> >
> > Nothing yet from The New York Times, which has had 59 news
>
> > stories on AAR prior to now.
> >
>
Excerpt. Excerpt. EXCERPT. Learn the difference between an excerpt and a link and then get back to me. Actually, don't bother. I am a bit curious as to what you think the op in op/ed stands for. Never mind.

When you get to high school, I suggest that you choose something other than the debate team.

 

[doc9464]

> Excerpt. Excerpt. EXCERPT. Learn the difference between
> an excerpt and a link and then get back to me. Actually,
> don't bother. I am a bit curious as to what you think the
> op in op/ed stands for. Never mind.
>
> When you get to high school, I suggest that you choose
> something other than the debate team.


.....its ok PW, truth hurts or at least an attempt to vet the facts may hurt. When it comes to really reviewing this issue, you won't do it. Time to move forward until your next distortion.

 

[PW]

> > Excerpt. Excerpt. EXCERPT. Learn the difference between
>
> > an excerpt and a link and then get back to me. Actually,
> > don't bother. I am a bit curious as to what you think the
>
> > op in op/ed stands for. Never mind.
> >
> > When you get to high school, I suggest that you choose
> > something other than the debate team.
>
>
> .....its ok PW, truth hurts or at least an attempt to vet
> the facts may hurt. When it comes to really reviewing this
> issue, you won't do it. Time to move forward until your next
> distortion.
>


Maybe Track and Field. You could be the javelin catcher.

 

[Scribbler]

The New York Times and Air America

> Nothing yet from The New York Times, which has had 59 news
> stories on AAR prior to now.

This is one of the silliest of the current right-wing talking points. The New York Times hasn't had 59 "news stories" about AAR. It has printed the words "Air America" 59 times, most of them in passing and many of them about the CIA airline "Air America" that operated during the Vietnam War.

NY Times, May 31, 2005: While posing as a private charter outfit -- ''aircraft rental with pilot'' is the listing in Dun and Bradstreet -- Aero Contractors is in fact a major domestic hub of the Central Intelligence Agency's secret air service. The company was founded in 1979 by a legendary C.I.A. officer and chief pilot for Air America, the agency's Vietnam-era air company, and it appears to be controlled by the agency, according to former employees.

And if you do a search for "Air America" in the NY Times database, you also get results like this, from April 20, 2005:

US Air, America West in Talks. US Airways, which is operating in bankruptcy protection, and America West, a low-fare airline, are in serious merger discussions, people close to the deal said. C1

In other words, if the word "Air" and the word "America" appeared next to each other, that's an example of the NY Times pushing the radio network that uses those words in its name. Give me a break.

<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by Scribbler on 08/06/05 05:06 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[PW]

Re: The New York Times and Air America

Thanks for the correction/clarification.

 

[bierkenstock]

Re: The New York Times and Air America

> Thanks for the correction/clarification.
>

You do seem a bit gleeful about this story which could prove embarassing for Air America Radio and that makes your motives suspect. The Times may have a bias but apparently so do you. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

None the less, you do raise a valid point. The New York Times has ignored this story and one wonders why. Setting aside the question of the Times' supposed liberal bias, they do give short shrift to New York local news and seemingly pay more attention to all the "esias." They are also somewhat slower to move on stories and scandals the tabloids are quick to run with. If they are waiting to make sure they get the facts right, then that is to their credit. But the Times often turns their nose up at stories competitors break first (they really dragged their feet on Watergate because the Washington Post broke it, but were treating the Pentagon papers like the second coming because they broke it).

 

[doc9464]

> > .....its ok PW, truth hurts or at least an attempt to vet
> > the facts may hurt. When it comes to really reviewing this
>
> > issue, you won't do it. Time to move forward until your
> next
> > distortion.
> >
>
>
> Maybe Track and Field. You could be the javelin catcher.
>

Ignoring your now-stupid reactions and comments, Lets get another good point that the right wing enjoys when these type of events come up. With all the false information thats being printed by PW, Malkin, etc., the real problem is that most of the right wing will not dig in and review the issue (and probably a lot of americans as well). There will be "impressions" left that AAR "did someting wrong" when all comes out in the wash. I think this is the real damage the RW Echo Machine is trying to do. A reasonable person who looks into all the details and details about the investigation would reason that Evan Cohen did a job on Gloria Wise as well as well-documented scam job he did to Air America Radio.

Again, as I said earlier, if the investigation showed in anyway that the Piquant team was involved in Cohen's scam, they SHOULD face punishement right next to Cohen.

If you look at how Spitzer and the DOI are investigating the issue, the focus has been on Gloria Wise's management. Evan Cohen was able to get the management (executive committee) to give him money. He used that money for various reasons, one being to shore up money he claimed AAR had for venture capital. We all know that Cohen's Progress Media was purchased by Piquant. Is is clear that Piquant had no responsibility for Cohen's actions (unless something new is discovered).
The Gloria Wise management seems to have Enron-like issues which Spitzer (who is running for governor) sees as another opportunity to build his reputation as a reformer. The Gloria Wise situation needs a look and Spitzer will give it all his focus. The radio equalizer lied that AAR is not following the DOI's request.
As part of their willingness to help with the issue, AAR posted money in an escrow account that will be used to pay back the organization. This again is a good PR move for AAR. Despite their strong belief that they have no responsibility, they still want the organization to get what they should have back. Its a good thing to do. I don't think AAR (I don't either) would feel that they had to..but in the interest of all they are doing it.




EDIT ALERT: Johnny Morgan brought up a valid point in a subquent post. I want to make clear that the below paragraph is my belief, opinion, and frustration over how the right wing currently seems to deal with issues in the media. I agreed to adjust my post and edit appropriately to better clear up that the next paragraph is not fact related to the scandal but simply my opinion. THX.

Again, once this is cleared up...and Im switching to my belief, AAR (current management) will not have had any responsbility. I believe strongly (IMHO) that the RW will have succeeded in adding another nasty smear to good people. I strongly believe from what I have seen....(IMHO) it goes from the bottom in Ohio (Denigrating Paul Hacket) to the White House (outing Plame and smearing Joe Wilson, Richard Clarke, etc). It is my opinion that the right tends to plays super dirty. I wish I could count on the curiosity of Americans to be informed on this issue but in this day...id only be fooling myself.

Dampier, as the best source on this issues, can you comment please?


<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small">Edited by doc9464 on 08/06/05 10:16 PM.</FONT></P>

 

[JohnnyMorganWXJX]

> Again, once this is cleared up...and Im switching to my
> belief, AAR (current management) will not have had any
> responsbility. But the RW will have succeeded in adding
> another nasty smear to good people. Its just what you expect
> from the right....it goes from the bottom in Ohio
> (Denigrating Paul Hacket) to the White House (outing Plame
> and smearing Joe Wilson, Richard Clarke, etc). The right
> always plays super dirty. I wish I could count on the
> curiosity of Americans to be informed on this issue but in
> this day...id only be fooling myself.

I was with you up until this last paragraph. The AAR-Evan Cohen-Stealing From Little Boys and Girls story is being paraded as much more in re: AAR currently than it actually is.

But, I don't think your blanket statement that "the right always plays super dirty" and the accusations of "right-wing smear" are either: (a) correct as a matter of fact, to the exclusion of any other party (including Democrats), and (b) appropriate on this board. The rest of the paragraphs may belong here--they are generally explanatory of the situation and the coverage thereof, but this last one, cited supra, has no tangential relationship to anything other than partisan political commentary. Which is fine, but there's a place for it elsewhere at Radio-Info.

 

[doc9464]

> I was with you up until this last paragraph. The AAR-Evan
> Cohen-Stealing From Little Boys and Girls story is being
> paraded as much more in re: AAR currently than it actually
> is.
>
> But, I don't think your blanket statement that "the right
> always plays super dirty" and the accusations of "right-wing
> smear" are either: (a) correct as a matter of fact, to the
> exclusion of any other party (including Democrats), and (b)
> appropriate on this board. The rest of the paragraphs may
> belong here--they are generally explanatory of the situation
> and the coverage thereof, but this last one, cited supra,
> has no tangential relationship to anything other than
> partisan political commentary. Which is fine, but there's a
> place for it elsewhere at Radio-Info.


Your assement and subsequent comments are fair. Its why I said it was my belief versus what I said was fact. I stand by my belief however. I will adjust my post to better indicate my opinion versus stated fact.

 

[dampier]

Another day, another taffy pull....

> An employee of Air America, who requested anonymity, said
> yesterday that it received a letter from the city Department
> of Investigation recommending that the network set up an
> attorney-managed escrow account for the payments, rather
> than pay Gloria Wise directly or wait until the department's
> investigation concludes. The employee said the network made
> its first payment, of an unknown amount, yesterday.

Surprising that the Air America employee goes on record anonymously? Suspicious? Sure is, considering the network itself publicly discussed this already. But it makes it sound more -evil- when they make it sound hush hush.

> An official of the city agency, who asked not to be named,
> said later that the letter asked that the radio network put
> the entire $875,000 in an escrow account.

Here is what you didn't read in The Sun (which is hardly the paper of record in NYC). It was Air America Radio itself that inquired of the DOI as to how they might dispense money to repay this fund (with no prompting from the DOI). They wanted to make sure they money didn't go right back into the hands of the crooks who created this problem in the first place. So they received guidance about setting up an escrow account.

Pick me up off the floor from the shock of The Sun leaving this out of their report.

 

[dampier]

> Maybe Track and Field. You could be the javelin catcher.

This is what poker players call "folding." It's no different than your "you should write press releases for AAR" the other day.

 

[dampier]

> Again, once this is cleared up...and Im switching to my
> belief, AAR (current management) will not have had any
> responsbility.

I don't know how they would because they are not under any investigation.

> Dampier, as the best source on this issues, can you comment
> please?

People just need to do their own research. Don't accept the talking points. The facts can be had if people take the time. When they don't, they show up here with comments like "nobody listens to Air America," or they quote a right wing talk show or blog as if it were the NY Times. In this case, the news story was "extended" (to be courteous) to try and implicate those who had nothing to do with the investigation.

When confronted, these people fold their cards with an off-topic insult and then generate a brand new post the following morning, hoping quantity will work where quality cannot. The only thing left is to use the echo chamber, hoping to post links to hardly credible blogs and other Jeff Gannonesque news sources to bolster the argument. Twice nothing is still nothing.