Patterico's Pontifications

6/24/2006

Patterico Cancels his Subscription to the L.A. Times

Filed under: Dog Trainer — Patterico @ 9:33 am



I cancelled my subscription to the Los Angeles Times this morning.

I explained to the person who answered the phone that I was cancelling because I am outraged that the newspaper revealed classified details of a successful anti-terror operation.

They put me on with a “specialist,” and I repeated the reason for the cancellation. He said they were sorry to lose me as a subscriber. “I’m sorry, too,” I said. And I am. I’ve had my differences with the paper — plenty of them — but I’ve been subscribing since 1993. That’s thirteen years.

He said: “Of course, different people have different opinions about what’s written in the newspaper . . .”

I told him that this has nothing to do with disagreeing with what I read in the newspaper. I disagree with the newspaper all the time. This is different. The newspaper made a deliberate choice to print classified details of an anti-terror operation that, by all accounts, was effective and legal. Key members of Congress had been briefed on it and had no problem with it. Strict controls were in place to prevent abuse, and those controls appear to have been effective.

Moreover, the program had been successful. The government had used it to capture the mastermind of the 2002 bombing of a Bali nightclub. That bombing killed 202 people, I said. I felt myself getting angry all over again as I continued the explanation. That’s more people than died in the Oklahoma City bombing. It’s the equivalent of catching Timothy McVeigh.

I told the man that officials from the Bush Administration had begged the newspaper’s editors not to print this story, but the editors ran the story anyway. I told him that I think publishing the story was completely irresponsible, totally lacking in any justification, and has posed a threat to the safety of our country. And I just can’t continue to subscribe to a newspaper that would do such a thing.

He didn’t argue with me after that.

UPDATE: Marc “Armed Liberal” Danziger cancelled his subscription as well. Although Marc and I speak often, we hadn’t discussed this. We just independently came to the decision that we can’t fund a newspaper that would do something like this.

I hope this becomes a trend.

UPDATE x2: Thanks to Instapundit, Power Line, and Hugh Hewitt for the links. And thanks to Power Line for making this blog its “Blog of the Week.” I hope new readers bookmark the site and return often.

153 Responses to “Patterico Cancels his Subscription to the L.A. Times”

  1. >>>He didn’t argue with me after that.

    But the Liberals dufuses who come to this blog will argue with that.

    Carlos (98df3a)

  2. Geez Potterico, where is your dog going to piddle now?

    You know in some ways reading the Los Angeles Times (I read it for the sports section, and the sports section alone) is like watching an intellectual train wreck. They’ve got a lefty named Blind Bush Hating Prejudice for an engineer, and boxcar loads full of cant and hypocrisy behind the engine. They’ve also got a couple of tank cars full of oleaginous self congratulatory manure tea in the consist.

    Every now and then I make the mistake of getting past the first sentence of a Tim Rutten op ed piece, and then feel the need to take a shower

    Cancelling my LA Times subscription is going to be my birthday present to myself—my wife will argue because she likes to do the crossword puzzles and read a bit of the local news.

    Mike Myers (28fa0a)

  3. How are you going to fisk them now?

    I read the paper every now and again at the local greasy spoon, which has baskets of papers left by other diners.

    Grumpy Old Man (1ef9b8)

  4. Take it one step further. Take the paper from the day of the story, get a list of major advertisers. Call them and tell them you won’t do business with them for two months. Get others to do it. That gets more attention at the LA Times than the cancellation of a subscription.

    Nemo (669391)

  5. I cancelled my NYT subscription two years ago. Feels great, doesn’t it! I don’t miss it at all, for a while I subscribed to the TV Guide which was pretty much all the paper was good for anyway. The news is old, and every single article editorializes in one way or another.

    Steve Morton (f41eca)

  6. The L.A. Times makes me furious nearly every day of the week. The only reason I read it is to see what “the other side” has to say. I’m so sorry that you’re cancelling, Patterico, because now I won’t have a blog to read that soothes my daily anger at their idiocy.

    Jackie Warner (41f17a)

  7. I am on the verge of cancelling the dead tree version too. Today’s lead editorial is what has pushed me over the limit. As I read between the lines I detect that what the Times is saying is that they are so mad about the Terrorist Survellaince Program (the controversial wiretapping), they are going to go ahead and expose any and all anti-terrorism measures they discover, even the ones that have been authorized by Congress such as the Swift program. It’s almost as if they are trying to bully the Administration — shut down the wiretapping or we will foul up every other intelligence program you have — and that is too close to outright sedition for my tastes.

    JVW (d667c9)

  8. How are you going to fisk them now?

    Oh, I’ll still read the paper online. I can’t simply refuse to ever access the web sites of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. But I can refuse to subscribe.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  9. More Reactions to NYT & LAT Security Breaches…

    While I got all hot & bitter over yesterday’s actions by the New York Times and (as Hugh Hewitt put it, it’s wingman) the LA Times, the Anchoress, as usual, puts it brilliantly:

    So the NY Times has, once again, been asked (by a bi-partisan group) …

    OKIE on the LAM - In LA (e2cef7)

  10. I agree with the comment regarding contacting the advertisers. I suggest the following for maximum effect:

    –Cancel subscriptions
    –Tell them why you’re cancelling, not only by telephone as did Patterico, but also in writing, both by e-mail and snail mail
    –Boycott advertizers, and let them know, by e-mail and snail mail

    It works. Look at the NYT stock price over the past two years.

    Steve Morton (f41eca)

  11. If JVW, and others throughout the blogosphere, are correct in their accusations against the LAT/NYT/WaPo over this issue, someone needs to go to jail. Will it happen? Not likely! Can we bankrupt them? It would be nice.

    Another Drew (8018ee)

  12. As I read between the lines I detect that what the Times is saying is that they are so mad about the Terrorist Survellaince Program (the controversial wiretapping), they are going to go ahead and expose any and all anti-terrorism measures they discover, even the ones that have been authorized by Congress such as the Swift program.

    Bingo. I’m a little surprised they’d come out and say it, however veiled, but it doesn’t make me feel any better that they think they have a rationalization.

    Has it ever been like this before in history? I know the papers have always been partisan, but …

    Like the war on terror, the protection of Americans’ privacy isn’t a partisan issue.

    Nice alliteration. But meaningless sentiment. Of course the war is partisan, because the anti-war crowd has made it so. It shouldn’t be all about “privacy.” It’s about priorities. And logic. Or at least it should be. “What do they teach them at these schools?”

    Enjoy the time you saved by ceasing to read the print LAT, Patterico.

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  13. Good going, Patterico. The possibility of prosecution for sedition is miniscule, but it certainly does expose the Plame hysteria hypocracy. For a newspaper that went over the moon about a CIA agent who was unimportant – they don’t seem concerned with security.

    Kathy (c02b80)

  14. One more comment: On Friday, the day of the article, the overall stock market was down about 0.10%, while the NYT was down 2%. Apparently the editors are willing to shoot themselves in the foot to make a “point.”

    Steve Morton (f41eca)

  15. Tom Maguire at Just One Minute points to this in the NYTimes as a warning that they’re not through with their war against the war BTW:

    Officials described the Swift program as the biggest and most far-reaching of several secret efforts to trace terrorist financing. Much more limited agreements with other companies have provided access to A.T.M. transactions, credit card purchases and Western Union wire payments, the officials said.

    I’m trying to figure out if there’s anything the administration can do to stop them. Maybe Patterico will fill us in on prior restraint law.

    Personally I’d hate to see the administration have to prosecute over it, in fact I doubt that’s politically feasible.

    Dwilkers (a1687a)

  16. PS, my second quotation above was the last line of the lead editorial at LAT online, which I assume is the same piece JVW was talking about.

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  17. Bravo Patterico!

    You did the right thing even though you have a valid reason for continuing to subscribe to the dead tree version. But, don’t second guess it, don’t look back, you really can get along without the Dog Trainer.

    Now, how about making a fast buck? Sell “T” shirts on your Blog with something like “Preserve Freedom of the Press, Kill the LA Times” or some other similar slogan. Heck, the folks here can come up with dozens of pithy put-downs.

    I’ll buy a “T” shirt, or two, if they have pockets, there’s nothing so useful as a pocket on a “T” shirt. I’ll gladly pay up even at a somewhat modestly inflated price. There are limits, ya know.

    So, have fun, help preserve national security, make a nice chunk of change, land a few hard blows on the bad guys, provide a public service, jerk the jerks around a bit, and look good doing it. What say?

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  18. Given the Liberal Left’s history of involvement in Radical Chic causes that benefitted thugs and madmen, I have to wonder if the reason the Left is so hysterical about the phone records analysis, phone tapping, and this examination of banking records is an attempt to hide something.

    Over the years these fools have given material and (im)moral support to many other insurgencies, terrorist groups, and violent criminals. Could it be that they now fear that connections that seemd thrilligly cutting edge might now be seen as traitorous and criminal?

    Maybe we should call for a full audit of the LA Times’ and NY Times’ ‘philanthropic’ donations over the last couple of decades…..

    C. S. P. Schofield (c1cf21)

  19. Since I quit reading the Arizona Republic I seem more relaxed,no more phony polls put out 6 months in advance of some proposition they are in favor of,no more insulting cartoons by Steve(absolutly Nuts)Benson.The liberal press needs to be boycoted and ignored for our Nations safety.

    jainphx (f7e76c)

  20. As a former NSA employee, I can’t begin to describe my disgust with the LA Times and NY Times for knowingly giving away secret programs that have helped keep our country safe for decades.

    Kudos to you for cancelling your subscription. When I returned to Philly in 2002, I was eager to get a subscription to the Phila Inquirer and “catch up” on local news, but after a year I cancelled because it was an agent of the 5th Column.

    Richard Davis (b79190)

  21. Oh and by the way How dare the Bush Administration perform these functions to protect us,with out first obtaining permission from these self appointed nut cases.

    jainphx (f7e76c)

  22. BEYOND THE PALE…

    I refuse to take a back seat to anyone in my support for constitutional principles. No lefty, no privacy advocate, no civil liberties absolutist, and certainly no smarmy, self righteous, sickeningly smug Executive Editor of a newspaper like the New Yo…

    Right Wing Nut House (5ada7f)

  23. […] From Patterico’s Blog:  I cancelled my subscription to the Los Angeles Times this morning. […]

    Amber » Blog Archive » Patterico Cancels his Subscription to the L.A. Times (a5b7d1)

  24. Good for you.

    Let’s hope the end is near to these seditious bastards. They surpass even the Copperhead press of the Civil War era, who villified Lincoln but to my knowledge did not reveal classified information in order to defeat him.

    Patricia (2cc180)

  25. I droped the LAT in 1988 after 26 years. To me the real pitty was that before the “Big O” took over, the Times was a great paper. As proved by their growing circulation. Had it remained a great paper they would not have been forced to lie about their circulation to pump up ad revenue in the late 70’s and 80’s ; which lead to several bad court decisions in the 90’s which in turn almost killed the paper. Had not the Trib bought it I am sure it would no longer be around. The Communist shot puter from the Farm hated America and hired people whith a similar hatred; many of whom are there today.
    BTW they disclosed similar “secrets” in the Nam war; to aid the Commies – Otis’s heroes! Helping America’s enemies has been SOP for the LAT for 45 years. Which is why I canceled in 1988.

    Rod Stanton (0d1941)

  26. Our esteemed host wrote:

    Oh, I’ll still read the paper online. I can’t simply refuse to ever access the web sites of the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. But I can refuse to subscribe.

    The best revenge: you get to slam them without giving them any money! 🙂

    Dana (71415b)

  27. The urinalists at the NY and LA Times have been pissin’ on America for a long time. All the Yellow rags have been as far back as I can remember. They’ve been doing it for so long, it’s all they know how to do.

    But now they’re not just pissin’ on America, they’re shittin’ on us too. I guess they derive some kind of scatological satisfaction from it.

    But then again, what more can you expect of a left leaning weenie with his ass in the air, except a lot more pissin’ and moanin, and the gas to go with it?

    Al Pyne Crowe (f97a46)

  28. I wish someone would stand outside the LA Times building with an “LA Times Aids Terrorists” sign.

    Military Families would applaud that kind of protest.

    Richard Davis (b79190)

  29. “I think publishing the story was completely irresponsible, totally lacking in any justification, and has posed a threat to the safety of our country.” – Patterico

    You could offer (and may have) the same arguments re Abu Ghraib. Gen. Richard Meyers phoned CBS several times requesting the story not be aired. Yes, that wasn’t a clandestine surveillance op, but the story did pose peril to U.S. lives and stoked the insurgency.

    I think the papers would have steered clear of this had the NSA revelations not been in the wind. Manufactured outrage – especially in the cable news era – dominates editorial decision-making. No one likely argued: “Hey, here’s a way to assure readers our government is marshaling its covert assets to smoke out jihadist paymasters.”

    On the other hand, there’s an ongoing debate about snooping and civil liberties. One could suggest the Patriot Act’s provisions should never have been publicized and rancorously debated.

    Not everything the Administration does requires independent review. But fears Congress can’t be trusted with ANY such disclosures breeds a facile and arrogant preemption. One very much in character.

    Swift isn’t an open-and-shut question. Neither is its disclosure. We might be better off not knowing lots of things.

    steve (817857)

  30. Hit Them Where It Hurts…

    The only reason these newspapers chose to publish this highly sensitive information is because they thought it would boost their sales. They took a gigantic risk. If more people do what these two bloggers did, who knows, both the LA and the NY Times ma…

    Liberty and Justice (a5b264)

  31. Do you think the story was leaked to further bury the “WMD’s Found” news?

    Notice the Right hasn’t been able to get the WMD discovery to grow legs due to this traitorous distraction.

    Richard Davis (b79190)

  32. […] Bryan thinks I’m crazy for believing that a boycott of the paper’s advertisers is either possible or would do much damage. Perhaps. But the anger among right-wing pols and pundits is pushing ten and holding steady. Look at it this way: if Patterico’s angry enough to unsubscribe to his chief source of content, what will other Americans be willing to do? […]

    Hot Air » Blog Archive » NYT bank story redux: Fitzmas for righties? (d4224a)

  33. You could offer (and may have) the same arguments re Abu Ghraib.

    Nope. That was clear wrongdoing. I was upset at those who perpetrated it, not the newspapers for reporting it.

    Not everything the Administration does requires independent review. But fears Congress can’t be trusted with ANY such disclosures breeds a facile and arrogant preemption. One very much in character.

    My understanding is that key members of Congress were briefed and were fine with the program.

    Swift isn’t an open-and-shut question. Neither is its disclosure. We might be better off not knowing lots of things.

    I think it’s pretty damn close to open-and-shut. It was classified. It had controls. Congressional leaders were briefed. It related to activities (international wire transfers) in which people have little privacy interest. It was apparently legal. And it was successful.

    Comparing this to Abu Ghraib strikes me as a desperate attempt to defend the indefensible.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  34. The DoD first announced the Abu Ghraib story–it told the press in January 2004 that they were starting the investigation, and then the story didn’t really break until late Feb. or maybe March.

    See-Dubya (afdbd2)

  35. I explained to the person who answered the phone that I was cancelling because I am outraged that the newspaper revealed classified details of a successful anti-terror operation.

    Didn’t the NYT break the story?

    actus (6234ee)

  36. Old line print media is in collapse beyond anything you comprehend.

    You do not understand the animal and most of the industry doesn’t understand it themselves.

    1) Old line media blame “the speed of the internet” for their demise in circulation.

    2) While you canceled your subscription the public doesn’t get it that subscriptions only amount to 10% of their revenue.

    3) Subscriptions have been in decline for all but one major city newspaper despite population growth.

    4) Perhaps a growing core of readership no longer trusts old line print media content since the advent of new media!???!? LOL

    5) Major papers have been slammed by Audit Bureau of Circulation for fraudulent circ reporting in the recent past.

    6) However, Advertisers buy ad space based on represented circulations.

    7) Advertisers have been going back against newspapers for misrepresentation of circ that they paid for and are demanding cash.

    8) Revenue from ads actually printed in newspapers have been in sharp decline while interestingly, insert ads have grown dramatically. This is key to understanding their dilemma!

    9) ADVERTISERS IN GROWING NUMBERS WANT TO BE SEPARATED FROM THE EDITORIAL CONTENT!

    10) You do not have lay offs for a bad quarter. You do not have massive lay offs to increase profits. Corporations like LAT, NYT and other print media have had major lay offs because they are losing their A$$. More lay offs are coming.

    11) Old line print media has just completed two of the most disastrous quarters in their history. 4th Q is a guaranteed take it to the bank quarter for print advertising and it was a big loser for newspapers last year… the first loser in nearly forever.

    12) First quarter was a disaster for the industry and 2nd quarter is shaping up even worse.

    13) It is the internet but in the form of opportunity and challenge presented by the new medium to research and cross check lies told that is bringing old line print to its knees and as the editor of the Chicago Tribune editorialized before the ’04 elections….. they are no longer able to “Filter the truth”.

    14) What everyone fails to recognize is the time delay in the cause effect chain between the impact of new media, the drain of financial reserves, the denial of the new paradigm, the mergers and consolidations, the attempts at functional changes like faster presses and more electronics and lay offs, the collapse of ad revenues only after the collapse of circulation. It has taken years but the vice is now rapidly closing on their tender parts.

    OLD LINE PRINT MEDIA IS IN FINANCIAL IMPLOSION!

    As Churchill once wrote “THE CHICKENS ARE COMING HOME TO ROOST” (CU’s Churchill)

    fly (c53ee1)

  37. Jeez I dumped them in’92 after watching the riots live and then reading the lies by commission and not reading the lies by ommission in the LAT. Then you subscribed and cancelled me out… shoot

    kenny p (d8da01)

  38. Didn’t the NYT break the story?

    The LAT and NYT both conducted investigations and published their stories at the same time.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  39. The LAT and NYT both conducted investigations and published their stories at the same time.

    So the LAT could have printed it the next day? but not the day they did?

    [If you weren’t *trying* not to understand, this would be simple. To my knowledge, the papers that did the investigation and blew the secrecy of the program were the NYT and LAT. Period. They are the two papers that rushed to expose this, and the only two I know of that the administration begged not to print the story. Everyone else, including WaPo and WSJ, as far as I can tell, just followed suit — they published details that the LAT and NYT were already exposing. — P]

    actus (6234ee)

  40. Right Cross To The Wallet…

    Patterico has canceled his subscription to the LA Times over their printing of the story about the legal and effective anti-terrorist money tracking program.
    I explained to the person who answered the phone that I was cancelling because I am …

    Blue Crab Boulevard (a177fd)

  41. I can’t cancel or threaten non-purchase because I live on the right coast. But if somebody will post a listing of their advertisers (who market nationally) I will be glad to write to them and complain about their association with the treasonous rag.

    Bill Schumm (33ab73)

  42. “Comparing this to Abu Ghraib strikes me as a desperate attempt to defend the indefensible.” – Patterico

    What’s indefensible is to minimize the privacy context. We just hauled AT&T’s chairman to the Hill to assure the public he’s not breaking laws handing over phone records.

    The debate over warrantless spying on telephone calls and e-mails rages.

    This is the most expansive database on international financial transactions the U.S. has ever possessed. We can stipulate it’s been used only for the stated purposes and yields crucial intel on Middle Eastern “charities” channeling assets to terror groups.

    The Swift consortium tells the NYT today it remains “very resolute in its commitment to the financial tracking operation.” It added its role was “never voluntary,” by the way. The WSJ today profiled the U.S.-born point man, Leonard “Lenny” Schrank.

    Your arguments have merit. I just think it’s more of a stunt than dazed consternation.

    [Sure. You think that because you don’t like me. But I don’t see a compelling enough privacy interest in international wire transfers to justify crippling an effective and legal anti-terror program. — P]

    steve (817857)

  43. What’s indefensible is to minimize the privacy context.

    No, what’s indefensible is the conceit that the privacy of a vast majority of Americans is at risk. That’s simply not true.

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  44. Sheez Patterico, I’m suprised that it took this long for you to cancel your subscription. What are you going to wrap your fish in now?

    Although I didn’t have a subscription to cancel I sent a letter to them explaining my anger toward thier irresponsible and callous decision to print the story.

    Talk about your all time publicity stunt backfires…

    Trickish Knave (3f148c)

  45. Congratulations to anyone who cancels a subscription to the NYT. Unfortunately, that is not what you will hear from talk radio, conservative papers, conservatives on cable and large parts of conservative blogs. Yes, they will say the New York Times (which is primarily responsible for breaking this story at NYT Online) is far kooky Left, irresponsibly ideological and even treasonous. But even conservative outlets are still part of the media and they will not suggest that you cancel your subscription, that you boycott those who advertise in this liberal rag or patronize and encourage those who will not (i.e. GM). Why read or listen to someone rail on about the NYT if there is nothing they propose to do about it? This should provoke a massive fallout led by media conservatives, but people in glass houses …

    William Grubb (410b69)

  46. The data mining had/has some pretty strict controls on it, according to this:

    http://blogs.zdnet.com/threatchaos/index.php?p=349

    “Investigators at Treasury “type in” their database queries along with an explanation justifying the request. Onsite auditors from SWIFT monitor those requests realtime and block them if they appear abusive or unjustified. And then, after the fact, there are two sets of auditors who review all the investigations; one set at SWIFT and another group at Booze Allen the independent consulting firm.”

    steve (817857)

  47. And I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down!

    When an administration uses the argument “It will endanger national security” when they really mean “It might embarrass the administration” their protestations ring hollow. If their “secrets” were so precious, their own secret-keepers wouldn’t leak them.

    P makes a statement by cancelling his subscription, but he won’t give up the website and I’m confident will still take every opportunity to criticize the LA Times. How lame.

    nosh (d8da01)

  48. BTW michellemalkin.com has some excellent WOT posters in the “loose lips sink ships” vein.

    Patricia (2cc180)

  49. No, what’s indefensible is the conceit that the privacy of a vast majority of Americans is at risk.

    According to the wash post article on the program, at first the program was getting a lot of data, but it was too much, and thus they targetted it down to certain suspects.

    Good thing they told us that!

    And then, after the fact, there are two sets of auditors who review all the investigations; one set at SWIFT and another group at Booze Allen the independent consulting firm.

    So not just involuntary Belgians, but also a consulting firm could have been sources?

    actus (6234ee)

  50. According to the wash post article on the program, at first the program was getting a lot of data, but it was too much, and thus they targetted it down to certain suspects.

    Gee, thanks for making my point.

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  51. If people don’t go to jail over this, including journalists, George W. Bush and Alberto Gonzales are just being negligent.

    It’s alright that the President’s people begged the LAT, NYT, and WSJ not to run this article, but clearly they didn’t give a sh*t [asterik used to delete offensive letter] and ran it anyway.

    If a person refuses to obey the law and protect national security when you ask them to, then it’s time to move beyond asking to serious prosecuting.

    N’est pas?

    Chris from Victoria, BC (9824e6)

  52. They didn’t beg the WSJ not to run it. When NYT pressure was imminent, and disclosure was inevitable, then they talked to the WSJ. The WSJ is running only what the government told them about the program.

    See-Dubya (afdbd2)

  53. How to stop the New York Times II ……

    So Patterico has canceled his subscription to the LA Times, Marc Dansinger does too. Several bloggers have indicated they have canceled their subscriptions to the New York Times. Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO’s The Corner has decided not to re-up her week…

    Squiggler (72c8fd)

  54. […] Patterico and Armed Liberal have canceled their subscriptions to the L.A. Times. If you subscribe to the L.A. Times, the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal, you should consider doing the same. Hell, if you subscribe to the Chicago Tribune or any other paper affiliated with these treasonous creeps, consider canceling that subscription, as well. It’s high time for the public to tell these self-righteous jerks that they do not speak for the public, even when … nay, especially when … they smarmily claim to be acting in “the public interest.” […]

    damnum absque injuria » Just Say No to the Treason Lobby* (38c04c)

  55. A shame the editors won’t care……

    I applaud Patterico’s standing up for principle. Unfortunately, his message will go unheard by those he wishes would listen. The editors with whom he is unhappy don’t care about individual subscribers in general, and they care even less about individ…

    Thoughtsonline (d3e296)

  56. Way to go Pat!!!! I wish there was a way you could continue your excellent blog without referring to the LAT, NYT et al.

    Personally I went “Timesless” 10 years ago. The WSJ is close to the do not resubscribe list. There financial news has been almost totally eclipsed by the internet. Too many financial reporterettes with a puerile understanding of corporate matters.

    As others have stated, I wish someone could publish and list of
    LAT, NYT advertisers and theri addresses.

    rab (e8c381)

  57. Good move, Patrick. I cancelled mine a couple weeks back. I always wondered what it would take for you to finally give and stop being a subscriber. You picked an excellent position to slam them with, but will they get the message, not only from you, but from the cacophony of angry voices over this story?

    The NYT and LAT are cultures that must be replaced in order to save them. But no one has the brains or the chutzpah to get it done. Maybe blogger Macsmind is right: a class action suit brought against the papers by their readers for endangering the nation. I have yet to see any legal voices chime in on this suggestion, but I have some bucks I’d put toward it.

    Brian (2febd2)

  58. Gee, thanks for making my point.

    No need. Thank the washington post for revealing this.

    actus (6234ee)

  59. As a former NSA employee, I can’t begin to describe my disgust with the LA Times and NY Times for knowingly giving away secret programs that have helped keep our country safe for decades.

    Same here. I was in the USAF Security Service and worked at NSA for 6 months. Also did related work for a private contractor after I left the service. NYT and LAT are leaking info about programs that, in previous wars, people would DIE to keep secret.

    Indict the reporters and editors. Then squeeze ’em to find out the leakers and throw the book at THOSE bastards.

    Arthur (2bf1d1)

  60. No need. Thank the washington post for revealing this.

    So you think it was a great act of courage for the papers to get people to reveal classified information to the effect that our privacy is not being compromised?

    That’s smart.

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  61. So you think it was a great act of courage for the papers to get people to reveal classified information to the effect that our privacy is not being compromised?

    I don’t think its that great of an act of courage, no.

    actus (6234ee)

  62. Welp, I think I must be misunderstanding your position, actus. Do you think what the papers did was justified?

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  63. Sorry, but I have to dissent. Please, please reconsider your decision to cancel the Times. If you’re no longer reading this newspaper, who’s to be our watchdog over the seriously flawed work by Hiltzik, Weinstein, Rutten and company?

    James Fulton (f23277)

  64. What Bill Schumm said about advertisers goes for me too – I’m sure they have some national companies advertising with them. (NYT too.)

    Kathy K (1bd956)

  65. Needed: a first-rate, non-biased, online newspaper…

    What is really needed is an online newspaper, one with solid reporting and impeccable source credentials and deep investigative journalists, that can be trusted not to violate national security, and one which does not write and edit with an obvious b…

    Common Sense Political Thought (819604)

  66. If someone were to start a website showing photos of newspaper vending machines being vandalized (super glued coin slots, dog doo doo, etc…) side by side with Abu Ghraib prisoner photos would this be legal in the US?

    Tom Villars (9607e8)

  67. […] Patterico (Via Hugh Hewitt): Patterico Cancels his Subscription to the L.A. Times I cancelled my subscription to the Los Angeles Times this morning. […]

    FullosseousFlap’s Dental Blog » Los Angeles Times Watch: Patterico and Danziger Dump the Los Angeles Dog Trainer (baa0b4)

  68. Welp, I think I must be misunderstanding your position, actus. Do you think what the papers did was justified?

    I like knowing what the washington post told me. Is that what you mean? Or do you want to know if it was a crime?

    actus (6234ee)

  69. It gives me some satisfaction to mail back the NYTimes and LATimes subscription mailer envelopes empty so they have to pay the postage and they get no subscription out of me. If a lot of people did that, I imagine it would cost them a bundle!

    Linda (58a7f5)

  70. Enemies Are Reading……

    The New York Times.* It’s the paper preferred by more terrorists.

    See original WWII posters
    (Click image to enlarge)
    Bank Data Sifted in Secret by U.S. to Block Terror
    The NY Times reports:
    Viewed by the Bush administration as a vital tool…

    California Conservative (520ef7)

  71. The President of the US begging for action has no impact on the Times. Attention Pulitzer people: That’s integrity! A few key advertisers who want accomodation… well, that’s a different story. That’s just business.

    Mr. SNicth (12ed9a)

  72. Cancelling your subscription is well and good; but the LA Times is owned by the Chicago-based Tribune Company. Tribune’s stock has been in the toilet of late – their bonds were recently reduced to junk status – in large part because of the LA Times, which has been an anvil around the Tribune’s neck due to plummeting circulation and revenues.

    The Times also ran a piece recently that gave the finger to Dennis FitzSimmons, Tribune Company’s chairman:

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-fitz20jun20,0,1345121.story?page=2&coll=la-home-business

    So don’t phone the Times and tell them why you’re cancelling; you’re talking into a dead phone. Write to FitzSimmon and Tribune Company. Tell them exactly why you’re pissed off and why the Times’ gross irresponsibility is costing Tribune Company money. Write on paper; the address is 535 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611. Encourage Tribune to clean house. Frankly, I’d like to see the Timesmen doing hard time in Levenworth, but seeing them booted onto the street would be a step in the right direction.

    Don’t expect anything to happen: FitzSimmons is a nutless wonder who fully deserves the Times scorn. But maybe he’ll grow a pair – stranger things have happened.

    Brown Line (e15754)

  73. I like knowing what the washington post told me. Is that what you mean? Or do you want to know if it was a crime?

    I mean, does your personal satisfaction in knowing about this outweigh the national interest involved in it being kept secret?

    Anwyn (01a5cc)

  74. When I cancelled my LAT subscription in early 2003, the girl who took the call laughed and said she was getting a lot of similar calls. That was after a particularly odious Robert Scheer column. Last fall, I decided to subscribe again. Bad move. I got a series of dunning calls because I had failed to pay my first payment on time. I never got a bill but nevermind. So I cancelled again.

    The NY Times subscription got cancelled yesterday morning. The young man took a long letter by dictation and promised to send it somewhere in the organization.

    I wonder if they care. I suspect the marketing strategy for the past two years or so has been to respond to the demands of the hard left base of their subscribers. I have been told the same trend is evident at the ACLU. All the moderates have left already.

    Mike K (416363)

  75. […] Patterico’s Pontifications Bush Financial SWIFT Terrorism Filed in: MSM Bias, War On Terror | No Comments » […]

    Flopping Aces » Blog Archive » Our Self-Absorbed Media (ef3aba)

  76. I just took a quick look at the NY Times web site. On the front page were ads from the following companies:

    E-Trade Financial
    Samsung
    Air France
    Fidelity
    Chase
    Citibank
    Scott Trade

    I have accounts at Fidelity and Chase; will send them emails to let them know I will be moving my accounts.

    Bdb (b6ea39)

  77. The problem is that you can only cancel once. Since I cancelled after their shamelessly partisan election coverage, I’ve wanted to double, triple, and quadruple cancel, but when I call to tell them to make note of my name so that they will refuse to start my subscription if I ever make that mistake, they don’t even put a specialist on the line.

    What we need is a way to reduce their monopoly subscriber base.
    What we also need in Los Angeles is an honest newspaper that cares about the city and the nation, and maintains a decent respect for the opinions of those who see through the bogus pieties of the left.

    lincoln republican (6ec212)

  78. STEAL THE L.A. TIMES — STEAL THE N.Y. TIMES
    There are laws against treason which protect American lives, indeed the country itself.
    There are also laws against stealing, which protect money and property and other supposedly conservative interests.
    See how quickly the treacherous liberal “Steal This Book” establishment finds a new respect for law, and concerning nothing more than filthy money.
    This is the perfect non-violent campaign–there is a risk of jail, there is a direct financial interest to the bad guys, and it’s something which anybody can do quite easily. You can even explain it to the shopkeeper on your way out, discouraging shops from carrying the LA TIMES/ NEW YORK TIMES.
    So go on and open up that paper machine–take the copies out and leave them there. Go through the checkstand with three–pay for one and tell the shopkeeper what you are doing. Snatch and grab a stack from wherever you wish! Bigger stores are better targets, however–the goal is not to hurt small shops, but to anger large ones.
    This way, perhaps the TIMES’ bottom line will get a taste of America’s bottom line–treason will not be tolerated.

    haakondahl (4c6b03)

  79. Goddam, can you imagine these scumbags being on the job during World War II?

    “The Roosevelt Administration and its allies within the British government have cracked a German communications code, reportedly called ‘Enigma’. As part of this program, put in place with no congressional or judicial assent, mathemeticians gather each day in Bletchley Park in England to attempt to decipher the day’s messages from the German military.

    Sources close to the operation have grown uncomfortable with the legality of eavesdropping on German radio communications without a warrant from a judge…”

    Kevin (cbdf0a)

  80. If I have a “right to know” the details of anti-terrorist programs that are working, legal and helping capture or kill our enemy, surely I have a rght to know who Joe Wilson is married to and what she does for a living. Free Scooter!

    Tom Spaulding (5921f0)

  81. You can tell “Pinch” what you think of the NY Times at this email address:

    publisher@nytimes.com

    Michael (264a6a)

  82. What we really need is to write the advertizers. Cancellation of one subscription is not going to hurt them. Withdrawal of one or more major advertizers will.

    Brad Charan (51aca4)

  83. i would cancel my subscription to the new york times except i already did last summer when it became plain that they were using their coverage of the current iraq war to give the benefit of the doubt to our sworn enemies but nothing of the sort to our own troops.

    i would love to see a protest take place here in new york against them. i have never in my life even come close to attending such an event, but this is one i would attend.

    john conway (f9039d)

  84. Sending the empty envelope is a great idea–I usually use it to send a diatribe.

    Patricia (2cc180)

  85. Does it cost a newspaper money if I subscribe then unsubscribe a week later? What if I do that once a week [x52]? What if 100 others do the same [x5200]?

    Fen (790a97)

  86. I mean, does your personal satisfaction in knowing about this outweigh the national interest involved in it being kept secret?

    Those sound like apples and oranges to me.

    actus (6234ee)

  87. My subscription has long since been cancelled.

    Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest) (d8da01)

  88. Zinging the New York Times…

    The New York Times ( The LA Times and others, too ) is the Big Loser by giving aid, and comfort, to the enemy, as Good Old Yankee Ingenuity meets Photoshop, and Americans Outrage grows by the day. Those old…

    Sneakeasy's Joint (72c8fd)

  89. I’ll not buy an LAT either, no subscription. But to be honest with school out I don’t get my free classroom copy anymore. It’s the appearance of solidarity that counts.

    Pat Patterson (5b3946)

  90. […] Los Angeles Times subscribers Patrick Frey and Mark Danzinger have canceled their subscriptions over the disclosures. […]

    Hoystory » Blog Archive » Fallout continues (322185)

  91. […] The New York Times has repeatedly revealed secret information about programs that the government uses to track and capture terrorists. One such program involves the oversight of internation financial transactions amongst suspected al-Queda terrorists. The New York Times published all the details about this program, effectively eliminating its secret status. The New York Times intentionally ran the story, despite the fact that Tony Snow had specifically asked them not to, and also despite the fact that the program was perfectly legal, and key members of the Senate had been briefed about it. […]

    Fresh Tasty Ideas | Blog Archive | The media are the enemy (90df21)

  92. The commentator above is exactly right, I think, who says Otis was the kiss of death. It was a great institution for many, many years, but none of those years are recent. The same can be said for the Chicago Tribune, and the Detroit Free Press, for that matter, and other Knight newspapers. When John S. Knight died it was like the death of Henry Luce–vast enterprises went directly into the toilet.

    exguru (9f37aa)

  93. If you ever get down this far on your comments (lol), I live just over in Long Beach. I haven’t bought that paper for over 8 years. I figured the coupons were not worth it. I do not need someone in the news section telling me what to take away from the articles. Just give me the facts, Ma’am. Great job. I’ll be back. Have a great weekend.

    Rosemary (c2d1c9)

  94. Unless our esteemed host’s cancellation is publicized enough to start a major trend, the Times will not notice, nor will they really care. Those amongst the management who do think about it will probably be glad that Patterico has dropped his subscription; they’ll think that the 2006 Dog Trainer Year in Review article won’t be quite so damning.

    But. most of all, they’ll think that it doesn’t matter, that it was just some rednecked yahoo who cancelled in a fit of pique, and they think that they are above that sort of reader.

    The only way it makes an impact is if thousands of people cancel; didn’t that happen once, a couple of years ago, after the Times did something smarmy during the recall election?

    Dana (1d5902)

  95. Bush v al Qaeda + al NY Times…

    I learned about the al New York Times front page story giving our enemies aid and comfort 17 minutes after it happened. I haven’t been able to write, because I just don’t know anymore. What purpose was there for us to have this information?…

    My Newz 'n Ideas (c2d1c9)

  96. “P makes a statement by cancelling his subscription, but he won’t give up the website and I’m confident will still take every opportunity to criticize the LA Times. How lame.

    Comment by nosh”

    Aside from the snarky tone, ad rates are based upon subscription numbers. I read stories online at many papers. They don’t get credit for that with the ad rates.

    Mike K (416363)

  97. Boycott Boycott Boycott!!!!!!!!!!!

    drjohn (980b1c)

  98. Anwyn,

    Don’t expect a straight answer out of Actus. He couldn’t even decide if Osama bin Laden was worse than George W. Bush.

    As someone who worked as a journalist for more than a decade, I can tell you that reporters who print this information think they’re doing the readership some sort of favor, not that they are damaging the country. The only way they will take the terrorists seriously is if THEY’RE offices get targeted. So far, the only person who talked about that was Ann Coulter…and we know how fast certain people decried her for that.

    sharon (fecb65)

  99. What became of the companion thread labeling as treachery the NYT front-page story: “U.S. General in Iraq Outlines Troop Cuts?”

    steve (817857)

  100. Re #100

    6/24/2006
    New York Times Prints More Classified Information
    Helpful to the Terrorists

    “…There is no question that Al Qaeda takes comfort in knowing that there are official plans to slash troop levels in Iraq by the end of 2007. The folks at the New York Times think they’re staying on the right side of the line, but in reality, they have crossed it.
    There has to be some sort of consequence for this pattern of behavior.”

    steve (817857)

  101. I just did it too – cancelled my LAT subscription – after 26 years. When I told him why I was cancelling, the customer service guy tried to give me “alternatives” like calling the Editorial Dept. and leaving a comment, or writing a letter to the editor – he said my comment would have more weight behind it if I was a subscriber! (One of the diminishing number.)

    Jim (32b47c)

  102. Psycho Killers…

    So. I read that the Los Angeles Times, one of the most irresponsible newspapers in America, has published top secret details of a program to monitor movement of money in bank accounts to help catch terrorists and disrupt their fi……

    Dean's World (fa8fba)

  103. The wonder of it is that either the LAT or NYT still has any subscribers. And you only get the satisfaction of canceling your sub once. We need to hurt these companies fatally…though, judging by the stock price of the NYT, they’re doing a pretty good job of it all by themselves.

    What these papers are doing is treason, and I’d love to see those responsible hang, preferably on TV.

    Peg C. (5907f4)

  104. Mike K (who is obviously not mikekoshi) wrote:

    Aside from the snarky tone, ad rates are based upon subscription numbers. I read stories online at many papers. They don’t get credit for that with the ad rates.

    But this leads right up to the obvious question: if print circulation continues to decline, and ad revenues drop with the decline, how can the newspapers stay in business at all?

    That’s not just a question concerning whether the L A Times ought to get trashed because of what they printed, but of newspapers in general.

    They are eighteenth century technology, trying to survive in the twenty-first; something fundamental has to change.

    Dana (9f37aa)

  105. They don’t get credit for that with the ad rates.

    Dont they have ads online?

    actus (6234ee)

  106. Alot of folk speak of the two moonbat ‘Times’ publications and their corporate lemmings as being guilty of merely trying to defeat President Bush.

    I disagree somewhat.

    These pricks have been trying to defeat us all.
    They’ve long striven to set the standard for Western malaise and outright defeat for at least as long as Walter Duranty’s lies have been foisted off as truthiness within the grey b*tch’s pages.

    Their nuanced propaganda has crossed a line of late as they’ve upped the progressive ante so blatantly in placing their fellow citizens and soldiers at risk – for profit no less. They are now nearly weekly engaged in not so petty acts of sedition on top of their more regular euphemistic aid and comfort to our society’s avowed insurgents enemies. Enemies I might add who openly view them as supremely tractable useful idiots in the left-driven jihad against the achievements of our civilization.

    Consequently, I don’t just want to see these publications hurt financially, I want to see their silver-spoonfed socialist arses relegated to mumbling their nihilisms from dingy cardboard boxes in their overtaxed urban ghetto alleyways whilst suffering to take their meals from the very church-sponsored soup kitchens they instinctively hate.

    I relish the day when I get to hear the collective wails and gnashing of their stockholders dentures as their investments in socialist engineering become as bankrupt as the potemkin broadsheets they $ponsored.

    It’s funny how these chauffeur driven socialists place so much stock in their bottom line.

    It’s almost as if they expect to be on some sort of top after they somehow manage to defeat the hated marketplaces of the bourgeois and finally make room for their zero sum feverswamp of a utopia (AKA: Dustbin of history).

    monkeyfan (362b9c)

  107. The Time Has Come:

    As a loyal citizen of the United States, outraged at the continual disregard for American national security shown by the NY Times and the LA Times, and recognizing the wanton disclosure of programs used to investigate terrorism constitutes a threat to my inalienable rights, life and liberty among them, I hereby acknowledge that a state of open hostility exists between us. Although only the NY Times and LA Times are named, many others are also involved in the conspiracy and they too are subject to the provisions hereto setforth.

    Attacks on my rights can no longer be tolerated or ignored, and the responsibility for hostilities and the consequences to third parties are theirs alone, they are responsible, individually and collectively.

    Offensive operations in response to their unprovoked and unprincipled attacks will commence shortly and continue unabated until the belligerent parties renounce the policies and activities which instigated this conflict, remove the persons responsible, make public and sincere apologies, put in place mechanisms which preclude any repetition of such treachery, make restitution, and surrender without condition.

    Black Jack (d8da01)

  108. “The LAT and NYT both conducted investigations and published their stories at the same time.” – Patterico

    David Frum, the ex-Bush speechwriter, on CNN’s Reliable Sources:

    FRUM: But the grammar of the story, as I see it reported, suggests that information came to the [NY]”Times” first. If they had gone to the other two papers and said, we went to the “Times” and they agreed that this would be putting the nation’s safety and security at risk, that would have been…”

    [NYT’s FRANK]RICH: As far as I know that — as far as I know, everything you just said is fictional. I’ve seen nowhere that the “Times” necessarily had it first. I got the feeling that news organizations were going neck and neck. What’s your source for that? What’s your source for it?

    FRUM: I got — I got — that’s not what I said. I said when I read the grammar in the story…

    RICH: What do you mean, read the grammar? Is it code, holding it up to the light with lemon juice?

    FRUM: Frank, that’s cute. But one of the things that’s amazing about “The New York Times”, is while it regards these secrets of the United States as anybody’s game, it insists on absolute, of course, confidentiality for itself. So it doesn’t tell you how it does the story. But when you read these stories, you get — if you know how the news business works, if you’ve worked for a paper, you get…

    RICH: Hello, all newspapers, including the other two that published this story, follow those same procedures.

    http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/25/rs.01.html

    Spirited debate.

    steve (6189a8)

  109. Patterico is absolutely correct here. This kind of nonsense is precisely why I dropped the Chronic Democrat, here in Rochester, some time ago. (Frank Gannet would be doing barrel rolls in his grave if he’d seen what they’ve been doing with his name, the last few decades!!)

    As a matter of fact, if I were Patterico, I would go ahead and take a step farther and a list of their major advertisers and call them and tell them that you won’t do business with them until such time as they remove themselves from the paper in question.

    There are no unanswered questions here, as some would suggest. The program in question, already had those questions asked about it, and it was deemed fully legal. That should have ended the conversation. But, because the Bush haters hate Bush more than they love their country, it suddenly becomes a ” serious question”. What a pile of sludge. Those that are raising these “questions”, are now being justifiably, and quite publicly spanked by their own readership, both in the world of the press, and the blogs.

    Even if they do claim they’ve ‘taken no side’ yet. That they’ve even asked such questions, pre-labels them, and those they side with, seals the glue on the label. Even if, even if, they now back off of those statements by saying “I’ve taken no side”. The side is taken can be seen by everybody else, apparently, but them.

    Bithead (d4ba75)

  110. Offensive operations in response to their unprovoked and unprincipled attacks will commence shortly and continue unabated until the belligerent parties renounce the policies and activities which instigated this conflict, remove the persons responsible, make public and sincere apologies, put in place mechanisms which preclude any repetition of such treachery, make restitution, and surrender without condition.

    Shhh. You don’t want your secret plans leaked.

    actus (6234ee)

  111. Yeah, this is all pretty goddamn funny, isn’t it, actus?

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  112. Yeah, this is all pretty goddamn funny, isn’t it, actus?

    Blackjack’s “offensive operations” ? Only if you’re into very dark humor. Whats he going to do? carry out Ann Coulter’s wish for McVeigh?

    actus (6234ee)

  113. With your comment, you seem to be making light of the need for secrecy regarding something that *is* important: effective anti-terror measures. Sure, BlackJack’s stuff is kind of comical, but I read your comment as also making fun of the need for secrecy as to information that really needs it.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  114. P — Go ahead and drink the Kool-Aid. The Leader says it is necessary to protect us from Snowball.

    nosh (d8da01)

  115. Sure, BlackJack’s stuff is kind of comical, but I read your comment as also making fun of the need for secrecy as to information that really needs it.

    A particularly effective way to rib the guy that’s going to “offensive operations” over it.

    actus (6234ee)

  116. A particularly flip way to treat serious issues of national security.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  117. The Leader says it is necessary to protect us from Snowball.

    OK. None of this has to do with Iraq, nosh. It has to do with fighting al Qaeda. Do you dispute that Al Qaeda destroyed the Twin Towers? Or do you assert that they simply blew over like the windmill in Animal Farm, and Bush/Napoleon is simply picking Al Qaeda as scapegoat?

    Because otherwise, I confess I don’t really understand your comment.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  118. A particularly flip way to treat serious issues of national security.

    Thats what i’m trying to point out to blackjack!

    actus (6234ee)

  119. That you’re flip about national security? I think he already knows that.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  120. I’m sure that the editors of The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times would all say that of course they support America, of course they don’t support al Qaeda, but that they think the Swift program was just too broad, too intrusive, too violative of the rights of Americans, and the America that they want to see win is the America that stands up for the individual and civil rights of all of its citizens! (It’s not difficult to picture them, playing VCR tapes, over and over, of Senator Kennedy’s “In Robert Bork’s America” harangue.)

    And, who knows, they might even believe that bovine feces!

    The problem is that, in their seizure of the authority to decide what is a good weapon against the terrorists, and what is an improper weapon to use (an authority I thought we had elected a President and Congress to hold, but whatever), they have made it less likely that the America they want to see win is going to win; they have made it more probable that a terrorist attack will be able to succeed.

    The America they want is an America every one will love — despite the fact that there are some who will never love America. The America they want is an America for whom no one will ever have to fight — even though there are people out there who are willing to strike at us. The America that they want is one in which their egocentric concepts of how the world should be are shared by every man, woman and child — and illegal immigrant, of course — and any of the few, obviously uneducated fundamentalists who disagree would be completely marginalized and politically helpless.

    In short, they want a world in which everyone agrees with them, and they are so lost in their self-important egos that they can’t possibly conceive that other people would actually see things differently.

    One wonders what color the sky is in their world.

    Dana (1d5902)

  121. That you’re flip about national security?

    That he is.

    actus (6234ee)

  122. FEELING GUILTY LAT??

    According to Doyal Mcmanus of LAT, his paper was still talking to AG Gonzalez office when this story appeared on NYT Online. This is from Mcmanus on an NPR Friday 9 a.m. morning talk show, presumably implying the NYT was solely responsible for breaking this story. It sounded like he knew this was a big no no before it was even news. How do they sleep at night?

    William Grubb (410b69)

  123. […] I cancelled my subscription to the L.A. Times yesterday, so today was our first day without the dead-trees version of the paper. […]

    Patterico’s Pontifications » Ah, the Benefits of Being an L.A. Times Non-Subscriber (421107)

  124. Hi guys,

    I subscribed to the LA Times a few extra times today to make up for your absences. The LAT is a pretty shitty paper, admittedly. But its existence is far less troubling than the right-wing cryptofascist bloggers like you all, who hunger for a world without a professional free press.

    Rich Liberal in California (fca08b)

  125. Sure you did Rich… but if you had a brain and truly wanted to support liberal newspapers, wouldn’t you just donate the money straight to them instead of subscribing? Any fool knows that newspapers must report earnings to stock holders and actually buying subscription only give them a small fraction of money. Now if you wanted to really impress them, buy a full page add of your drivel instead of just lying to us. Then you could actually prove your point instead of looking like a lying POS that you actually are.

    If you actually was a “Rich liberal in California” then we all know you inherited it, because you don’t have the business sense to know how the real world works. Sure you don’t want to change your name to “dumb as bricks in Cal”.

    LowOiL (f06717)

  126. Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?

    Proud LA Times non-subscriber since 2003.

    PrestoPundit (fa2820)

  127. […] LA Times critic Patterico has finally had enough — and joins hundreds of thousands of other Southern Californians with the cancellation of his subscription to the LA Times. […]

    PrestoPundit » Blog Archive » Come On In, The Water Is Fine (d881ce)

  128. That cinches it. I’m subscribing as of Monday.

    Your side lost, hippies.

    Jesus Christ, Miracle Caterer (7fc940)

  129. To MIke Myers:

    Tell your wife she can go online and download all the crosswords at the LAT, then print them.

    Same for the stupid sports stuff, and, you can ignore Simers just as easily.

    Shelly Sloan (d8da01)

  130. “I subscribed to the LA Times a few extra times today to make up for your absences. The LAT is a pretty shitty paper, admittedly. But its existence is far less troubling than the right-wing cryptofascist bloggers like you all, who hunger for a world without a professional free press.”

    Professional?! God, you didn’t sit through those lame ass journalism classes if you think they’re “professional.” The only thing “professional” about journalists is their ability to down 5 beers at closing time.

    sharon (fecb65)

  131. Why not put 50 cents in your nearest vending machine and remove all the papers. Leave them on top of the machine for anyone to take. That’s not stealing. You’re not taking the papers. You’re leaving it up to the next person.

    Brian Brain (24b8bb)

  132. I have never been in the military, but I fully understand, and agree with, the concept of “need to know.” I, and the rest of America, had no compelling need to know this story. The only thing the bi-Coastal Slimes had in common in their leaking of national security interests was to show their support for the head-chopping terrorists militants they so desparately love. And their BDS, of course.

    RickZ (ab6deb)

  133. Patterico
    I am with you completely. But something puzzles me. Speaking of the NYT now, Keller says in his apologia that they talked with the government for several weeks and were asked not to publish. But if the government had said “This would be against the law and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent”, I doubt they would have published. I wonder what the strategy is,if any, by the Admin.

    JohnH (ed719b)

  134. That’s not stealing. You’re not taking the papers.

    How far can you walk with the papers before it becomes stealing for you?

    actus (6234ee)

  135. “How far can you walk with the papers before it becomes stealing for you?”

    How many one-line posts can you make defending the indefensible?

    sharon (fecb65)

  136. You talk too much.

    Thilo (7632be)

  137. How many one-line posts can you make defending the indefensible?

    Its vandalism and rather petty theft to take the stuff out of the newspaper box. Not so indefensible.

    actus (6234ee)

  138. I don’t agree with the taking newspapers out of the box thing.

    Patterico (50c3cd)

  139. As the Right is so fond of reminding the leftists when it comes to privacy issues: “Why worry about investigations if you’re not doing anything wrong?”

    Jesus Christ, Miracle Caterer (7fc940)

  140. How can anyone recommend stealing to further a political cause? Are you a caveman?

    C’mon, we have to do better than that.

    Steve Morton (f41eca)

  141. You guys are right that stealing the paper is the wrong response. It only hurts the small distributor, who still has to pay SlimesCo for every copy.

    Somebody, take one for the team! Go down to your local Fourbucks coffee establishment, flip through the paper, and make a list of advertisers. Then post it here. (I would do it myself, but I’m about to leave on a camping trip — going to a place where there isn’t even plumbing, let alone Internet access. 🙂 )

    Happy Independence Day in advance, everyone!

    Mary in LA (ba2551)

  142. I’m sick and tired of someone subsrcibing under a bogus name to have the LA Times deliverd at my house. The other problem is that then the Times sell that bogus name with my phone number and address with a mailing list.
    I wish there was a legal remedy to stop them

    Ron M (ed1b26)

  143. My paper can out-liberal yours!!! I was a lifelong subscriber to the Minneapolis Star & Tribune, the clarion for blonde socialists. I cancelled about two years ago. Every six months or so I write their ombudsman and tell her how wonderful life is without the hiss and slither of their so-called journalism. At first she wrote back to me but now she realizes I am a “kook” who extracts a lot of satisfaction from watching their monopoly being de-constructed brick-by-brick.

    If truth prevails, the Star-Trib is out of business.

    Jerry Lindberg (9e4d52)

  144. I’ll buy a “T” shirt, or two, if they have pockets, there’s nothing so useful as a pocket on a “T” shirt. I’ll gladly pay up even at a somewhat modestly inflated price. There are limits, ya know.

    Hey! you can go to one of those mall kiosks and have your own shirt made….I think some of them even have quantity discounts!

    I am all for sedition charges! Had these guys been around during WWII, we’d all be speaking German now! (and they would have been executed!

    Litl Bits (13de2e)

  145. What ever happened to the good old days when we used to improson people for life or execute them for treasonous acts while in time of war??? That editor that works for the L.A. Times should have been jailed for treason. This country is at war!! It needs to act like it. Perhapse we should allow the terrorists to do more harm over here vice over there. Maybe then the idiots in this country will act more responsible. To the turncoat editor working for the L.A. Times I hope you become the first target in the next terrorist attack. TRAITOR….. I will never buy another news paper from the L.A. Times.

    David Douthit (c7cd77)

  146. I hate makinging spelling errors :/ grrrrrr

    David Douthit (c7cd77)

  147. The Monterey County Herald
    Attn: Herald Executive Editor, Carolina Garcia
    8 Upper Ragsdale
    Monterey, CA 93940
    cgarcia@montereyherald.com
    (831) 646-4306

    Ms. Garcia,

    I have attempted through several sources to clarify my position regarding my unfair treatment by my previous employer, Citibank. I had no previous plans to leave my position as Head Teller at the Citibank branch in Carmel. After 4 years of employment with the company, the unfair and unequal treatment of employees led to medically supervised work-related stress. The manager of the branch then accused me of job abandonment which led to my termination via UPS delivery on December 15, 2005, while I was at home on medical leave.

    Subsequent to my termination, I received numerous correspondences that referenced me as terminated, no longer with the company, and as a former employee. My 401K and pension have both been forwarded to me. However, when interviewed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, Citibank representatives reported that I was terminated due to not personally reporting my absence, but rather having medical documentation reported by my physician. When interviewed by the U. S. Department Wage and Hours Division, Citibank representatives reported on August 8, 2006, that I was still an employee of the company and that a letter indicating such would be forwarded to me. To date, this letter has not been received.

    I have continued to be in contact with several clients that have stated that Citibank representatives indicated that I was either on vacation, or that I voluntarily resigned in order to work with my husband in his new business. This is absolutely untrue. It was my intention to continue my employment as the benefits were extremely important to me, as well as to my family.

    Clearly, there has been a gross misrepresentation by Citibank, either to its clients or to the U. S. Department Wage and Hours Division. It is my position that I was unfairly terminated by Citibank. The unscrupulous behavior of Citibank and its representatives, locally and at the corporate level, is unacceptable.

    It is also my opinion that if a corporation as large as Citibank is representing itself on a local level, the local management and staff should act accordingly. A large part of the attraction of the Monterey area is the sense of community that is felt here on a day to day basis. If Citibank is allowed to misrepresent its actions to clients and government agencies, where will the corporate takeover end?

    Sincerely,

    Damari Stratford
    dcsbears@aol.com

    dcsbears@aol.com wrote:

    Subject: Re: Your message to the governor was received

    THE GOVERNOR HAS WRITTEN ME TWICE AND SAID HE WOULD HELP,, CITIBANK HAS LIED TO THE DFEH AND US LABOR DEPT WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION AND TO THEIR CLIENTS ABOUT MY STATUS, I NEED HELP, HOW CAN I FIGHT WHEN THIS CORPORATION IS TELLING LIES AND HAS ALL THE LAWYERS THEY NEED AND I CAN’T AFFORD ONE. HOW MANY TIMES ARE THEY GOING TO GET AWAY WITH MISTREATING EMPLOYEES
    ON 8/8/06 RONAN FROM THE US DEPT OF LABOR WAS TOLD BY A CITIBANK ATTORNEY THAT THEY WOULD SEND ME A LETTER EXPLAINING MY STATUS AS STILL AN EMPLOYEE, I HAVE YET TO GET THIS LETTER, HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO PUT A LETTER TOGETHER IF THEY ARE TELLING THE TRUTH?
    YOUR OFFICE AS WELL AS THE FIRST LADY’S OFFICE HAS CALLED ME BUT WE AREN’T GETTING ANYWHERE. IT HAS BEEN 7 MONTHS SINCE I FIRST WROTE THE GOVERNOR. CITIBANK ATTORNEYS HAVE CANCELLED 2 DEPOSITIONS AT THE LAST MINUTE THE LAST INE THEY CANCELLED WAS AFTER TALKING TO THE US LABOR DEPARTMENT,WHY?
    MY JOB WAS VERY IMPORTANT TO MY FAMILY AND I PLEASE HELP ME AND MY FAMILY AND ALL THOSE BEFORE ME THAT HAVE BEEN WRONGFULLY TERMINATED BY CITIBANK FOR NO GOOD REASON
    WHY IS EVERYONE SO AFRAID OF CITIGROUP? WHY CAN’T I FIND AN ATTORNEY WILLING TO STAND UP TO THEM ON A CONTINGENCY BASIS? I VOTED FOR THE GOVERNOR AND I NEED HIM NOW
    PLEASE CALL ANN FROM THE DFEH AT 408-277-1916 THEY TOLD HER THAT I HAD CALLED IN ILL ON 11/15/05 AND THAT I TOLD THEM I WOULDN’T BE IN, THIS IS A LIE I WORKED THAT DAY AND I CAN PROVE THIS WITH MY IME CARD, THEN THEY SAY THEY MADE AN ERROR
    PLEASE CALL RONAN AT 415-744-5590 EXT 226 FROM THE US LABOR DEPT TO VERIFY WHAT CITIBANK ATTORNEYS SAID. THE ONLY REASON THEY OFFERED ME FMLA IS BECAUSE I FILED FOR DISABILITY, BEFORE THAT THEY HAD PAID OUT MY FINAL PAYCHECK, FIRED ME VIA UPS, SENT ME COBRA INFORMATION.
    PLEASE HELP US PLEASE SEE THAT THE GOVERNOR GETS THIS EMAIL AND ASK HIM TO MAKE A CALL ON MY BEHALF
    CORPORATE AMERICA NEEDS TO TAKE BETTER CARE OF THEIR GOOD EMPLOYEES AND NOT ALLOW A MANAGER WITH BAD SKILLS TO FIRE SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE HE WANTS TO
    SINCERELY DAMARI STARTFROD
    MOTHER WIFE HUMAN BEING AND I VOTED FOR THE GOVERNOR
    I MATTER TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    CITIBANK IN CARMEL LIES TO CLIENTS ABOUT WHY I AM NOT THERE. THEY TELL PEOPLE THAT I AM ON VACATION OR THAT I LEFT TO WORK FOR MY HUSBAND INSTEAD OF TELLING THEM HAT THEY FIRED ME AFTER MY DOCTOR FAXED IN A NOTE AND CALLED IN FOR ME TO PROTECT ME FROM HAVING MY BLOOD PRESSRE RISE. JEFF URSINO AND KATHLEEN MUNOZ LIES TO ANN AT THE DFEH AND THEIR LAWYERS LIED TO THE US DEPT OF LABOR. KATHLEN WAS DOING THE OVERDRAFT ON HER DAUGHTERS ACCOUNTS AND REFUNDED HER OWN DAUHGTER MONEY WHILE THE MANAGER WAS ON VACATION. SHE LIES ABOUT BEING FIRED FROM WELLS FARGO, SHE LIED TO THE WORKERS COMP PEOPLE AND WILL LIE TO ANYONE. KATHLEEN HAD INSTUCTED THE OTHER TELLERS TO COOK THE BOOKS BY HAVING THEM PUT IN FALSE REFEERALS AND JEFF URSINO DID NOTHING ABOUT IT BUT I GOT WRITTEN UP FOR MISSING WORK WITH A DOCTORS NOTE. THEY STATE TO ONE AGENCY THAT I WAS FIRED AND TO THE OTHER THAT I AM STILL EMPLOYED, THEY STATE I WAS FIRED FOR NOT CALLING IN YET I WAS RESPONSIBLE ENOUGH TO HAVE MY DOCTOEOR CALL IN AND FAX MY NOTE IN DUE TO THE STRESS AND HARRASSMENT BROUGHT ON BY JEFF AND CITIBANK, WHERE ARE THE ETHICS IN THIS COMPANY

    NOW THEY ARE TELLING MORE LIES TO THE DEPT OF FAIR EMPLOYMENT AND HOUSING JEFF TELLS THEM WHY I WAS FIRED AND THEIR LAWYERS TELL THE US DEPT OF LABOR THAT I AM STILL EMPLOYEED
    PLEASE HELP US GET THIS STORY OUT TO THE WORLD IF IT ISN’T TOO MUCH TO ASK:) HOW DO YOU FIGHT LIARS, HOW DO THEY SLEEP AT NIGHT
    CITIBANK IN CARMEL 831-624-8258 CALL AND ASK THEM WHERE I AM ASK FOR KATHLEEN AND ASK HER WHY SHE LIES THIS WOMAN WAS HAVING CITIBANK PAY FOR HER DAUGHTER OVERDRAFTS AND HER A TELLER REFUND HER OWN DAUGHTER MONEY WHILE THE MANAGER WAS OUT ON VACATION SO WHY SHOULD ANYONE BELEIVE THIS UNETHICAL PERSON JUST AS JEFF URSINO THE MANAGER OF THE CAPITOLA BRANCH LIES TO HIS BOSSES TO MAKE HIMSELF LOOK BETTER PLEASE HELP US WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME
    HOW DO YOU FIGHT A CORPORATION LIKE THIS
    Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
    DAMARI AND CITIBANK HERE IS THE TRUTH!!
    To set the record straight!
    Damari was fired by Citibank in Carmel!
    Damari did not leave the bank to go work for her husband!!!!
    DAMARI HAD NO PLANS TO LEAVE CITIBANK!
    DAMARI PLANNED ON STAYING FOR ANOTHER 16YRS.
    THE BENEFITS WERE VERY IMPORTANT TO HER FAMILY!!
    DAMARI WAS FIRED VIA UPS WHILE AT HOME ILL DUE TO WORK RELATED STRESS BROUGHT ON BY THE MANAGER AND THE UNFAIR AND UNEQUAL TREATMENT OF EMPLOYEES
    ALONG WITH BEING THREATEN AND HARASSED
    BY THE MANAGER FOR JOB ABANDOMENT.
    SEVERAL OF
    Citibank clients have TOLD HER that they have been told by the staff at the Carmel branch :
    THAT SHE LEFT TO GO WORK FOR HER HUSBAND!
    THIS IS AN OUTRIGHT LIE!!!!
    What else will they lie about?
    Are they ashamed of what was done??
    WHY DO THEY FEEL THEY NEED TO SAY SHE LEFT TO GO WORK WITH HER HUSBAND
    ( I DO NOT WORK FOR MY HUSBAND)
    ( I DO NOT WORK FOR JND PLUMBING)
    (NOR AM I ON VACATION)
    INSTEAD OF JUST TELLING THE TRUTH ?
    IS THERE ANYONE IN THE CARMEL BRANCH THAT COULD SWEAR TO THIS? NO!
    You can reach Damari at dcsbears@aol.com
    ENOUGH WITH THE LIES CITIBANK!!!
    IF YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD THIS PLEASE SEND HER AN EMAIL
    CITIBANK TOLD
    THE US LABOR DEPT WAGE AND HOUR DIVISION ,
    ON 08/08/06
    THAT I AM STILL AN EMPLOYEE
    YET I HAVE LETTERS AND DOCUMENTS
    THAT CLEARLY USE THE WORDS
    TERMINATED
    NO LONGER WITH THE COMPANY
    FORMER EMPLOYEE
    AND MY 401K AND PENSION HAVE BEEN SENT TO ME AS OF 8/24/06 I HAVE YET TO GET THE LETTER FROM CITIBANK WHICH EXPLAINS HOW I AM STILL AN EMPLOYEE! HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO WRITE A LETTER IF YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH HOW CAN THEY SAY TO THE US DEPT OF LABOR THAT I AM STILL AN EMPLOYEE YET THEY TELL THE DFEH THAT THEY FIRED ME FOR NOT CALLING IN, WHAT IS THE TRUTH CITIBANK??????????
    CITIBANK STATES THAT I WAS FIRED FOR NOT CALLING IN YET MY DOCTOR CALLED IN FOR ME THE DAY BEFORE AND ALSO FAXED IN A NOTE FOR ME WHICH THE MANAGER RETURNED TO ME WITH MY LETTER OF TERMINATION. THEY KNEW THE DAY BEFORE THAT I WASN’T COMING IN SO WHY WOULD HE CALL TO ASK IF I WAS COMING IN IF IT WAS CLEARLY STATED ON THE NOTE AND TOLD TO THEM BY MY DOCTOR TO PROTECT MY HEALTH
    JUST MORE LIES BY THE CITIBANK STAFF IN CARMEL

    DAMARI (3d4408)

  148. […] Patterico is cancelling his subscription… Ditto for Marc Danziger… […]

    California Conservative » Enemies Are Reading… (f55714)

  149. [URL=http://zr2d4nmn.tripod.com/window-media-player/media-player.html]media player[/URL]
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    faust002 (b84309)

  150. The following is a copy of my email to the Times as of August 22, 2007 – Canceling our Times Subscription

    Dear Times Staff:

    My wife’s and my families have been Los Angeles Times readers since the 1900s and subscribers since 1950. So, canceling our subscription is not action we take lightly.

    But, we have become so disappointed with the Times that we are canceling our subscription effective immediately.

    While the Times probably doesn’t care, here are the reasons for our cancellation.

    We are sick and tired of the Time’s liberal biased reporting. The Times not only slants everything to its liberal point of view but fails to report news that would support alternate views and twists the facts for its own benefit. My view of good news reporting is to let the reader come to their own conclusions, liberal, conservative or any point in between, not to use Yellow Journalism in order to force a newspaper’s views down our throats.

    Today I tried to reach customer service, but the Times customer service in California evidently no longer exists and has been outsourced to Manila. While people in Manila, India and other third world countries where English is a second language may think they speak the English language, they really think in their own language and parrot English. Dealing with these third world people whose second language is English is frustrating at best. They just don not understand “American” English, and they do not give me any sense of confidence whatsoever that my requests will be met with service. Please do not confuse this issue with race or religion, the two have no bearing in this regard at all. I don’t care what color, race or religion anyone may be, I simply want to be able to communicate with them, which does not work here.

    Our sole remaining reason for staying with the Times was its service of transferring delivery from one address in Southern California to another. Always a bit problematic, with your new Manila customer service staff it has now failed miserably. Last week I requested a temporary delivery change to our Lake Arrowhead mountain cabin starting last Monday. The Times English speaker on the other end of the phone spoke the language a bit too mechanically but I really didn’t give it more than a fleeting thought. Then, when I called to report the paper had not been transferred the Times representative had no clue where my residence or Lake Arrowhead were located so I asked if she was located in Los Angeles, she replied she was in Manila and the picture became clear. She said the missing paper would be delivered within 45 minutes, but it never arrived. The paper was delivered this morning, two days late.

    Transferring to Lake Arrowhead has always been problematic for the Times because your local delivery service seems to hire transients unfamiliar with our mountain roads and they often get lost resulting in late deliveries or none at all. In the past, LA based Times staff could simply telephone the local delivery provider, recently they changed to emails, now more emails, but the deliver service provider is a field office and they do not check their emails more than twice day so response times are long, if at all.

    The bottom line is with this outsourcing to Manila, you have pushed this customer once too often and we will not return.

    Please respond to this email with confirmation that our subscription has been canceled.

    Thank you,

    Bill Patton (c2495f)

  151. To whom it may concern, 10/03/2007

    A CRY FOR HELP

    Please help the little person fight corporate America and their lies and false statements

    On, Feb. 16, 2006 someone representing Citigroup Inc at One Court Square, 14th Floor, Long Island City, NY 11120, submitted a rebuttal to Ann Luekeman, Consultant for the Department of Fair Employment and Housing at 111 N Market Street, Suite 810, San Jose Ca 95112, and the statement entered is false and full of lies . Ann Luekeman also conducted the interviews for the investigation and was also lied to by Jeff Ursino and Kathleen Munoz during their interviews. I feel that the case needs to be investigated due to the fact that the DFEH made their decision with false statements submitted by Citigroup attorney and their employees. Sheri Paulo, the Employee Relations director for Citigroup was aware of the false information submitted yet even though they/she said they would submit a new statement they did not and stood by the lies knowing they were lies. I was wrongfully termination, harassed, by Jeff Ursino, and I can’t understand how an attorney lies to the DFEH and then they aren’t held accountable. This is unethical behavior on all those whom lied and I have to pay for their lies. Citigroup violated several Ca labor codes in the process of firing me nor did Citibank follow their own firing procedures. I was not offered FMLA until months later.
    I am begging that someone out there will help a mother who was simply trying to work be a mom and a wife making a honest living yet the manager and supervisor both lied as well as the Citigroup lawyers. Their lawyers requested more time to answer the DFEH yet submitted false information and this is unethical, please help us. I have been on disability since I was fired on 12/13/05 via UPS, I did not know I had lost my job until 12/15/05 because I was out on a workers comp pending case when I was fired. Violation 132A.My last pay check was direct deposited into my checking account, it was not included with my letter of termination. I would like to know who submitted these false statements for Citicorp and or Citibank and Citigroup. I don’t have a team of attorneys as they do or the funds to hire the right attorney to get to the truth. Please help us.

    Sincerely,

    Damari Stratford
    1291 Ord Grove Ave
    Seaside, Ca 93955
    831-236-0112

    Damari (71fed5)


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