Gone and none too soon

2011-07-11T08:08:00.003-04:00

The Schenectady Informer has left the field, perhaps for the best. My sympathies to Pat Z for the troubles she has been saddled with.

Mike

The wonders of innuendo

2010-05-10T12:59:00.001-04:00

Choosing an opening article is an auspicious thing, fraught with options that could almost instantly relegate this blog to somewhere below ‘unprepossessing’ for the reader that chances upon this site. Should such an onset be humorous? Cutting perhaps? Historical maybe? Warm-fuzzy might work.

All that was set aside when I found a thread dated March 5, 2010 on a site bearing an imposing title: The Schenectady Informer. It’s an interesting site to visit infrequently, mostly (but not completely) driven by posters of a Conservative predisposition, and administered, I have been told, by a committee, led by Pat Zollinger (aka Ellen Patrice?). If you rummage through the site and read Ms. Zollinger’s posts, you might quickly arrive at the conclusion that Pat is overall one of the most negative individuals in the nation where elected officials, save Hugh Farley, are concerned. In short, if you hold elected or appointed government office and have not done her a personal favor of some sort, then she’s opposed to you. Further reading will reveal that dissention on the part of other posters leads to vitriol that stoops to name-calling (I've been dubbed, "a chump") and just about any other sort of personal attack she’s in the mood for; possibly her definition of the ‘hard-hitting’ the site boasts of.

To look at the thread itself, click here (but remember to come back please).
http://www.schenectadyinformer.com/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?m-1270459190/

Central Park Pyramid ‘spirited away.’
In the sixth paragraph, Ms. Zollinger uses a thoughtful, considerate, and generous act by the people of Union as the basis of a slur. In no way does the rescue and relocation of the pyramid in question qualify as having been ‘spirited away.’ http://www.union.edu/News/Magazine/Fall_2009/k-old-union-fl09.pdf

Help Yourself Foundation part of Union College’s lessening of tax base.
Looking at the most striking innuendo, in the seventh paragraph beginning with the reference to “Number 1090 Avon Road,” which she reports as being owned by a not-for-profit named the “Help Yourself Foundation.” On discovering tax free ownership, Pat states, “That caused me to wonder about the validity of the claims made by Union College, its presidents past and present and its standing as an organization devoted to the City of Schenectady.”

I began by asking half a dozen friends and co-workers to read this paragraph, and then answer a simple question: "Is it implied that the Help Yourself Foundation as affiliated with Union College?" All said, "yes;" the statements absolutely imply that. As shown in further posts to this thread, the Foundation is not affiliated with the University, and she tacitly agrees with that. If the reasoning is that, if a not-for-profit has propinquity to the University then its tax-exempt status can be held up as proof that the University is a detriment to the community, then the reasoning is specious in the extreme. By that logic, St. John the Evangelist Church, Catholic Charities, Dudley Observatory, and Cooperative Extension are all part of Union University’s guilt.

Safety at last.
Finally after six hundred forty-seven words, or 74% of the article, we address the title of the thread, sort of, in paragraph 8; in newspaper parlance, “below the fold.” Here begins the implication that an never-convicted but admitted felon poses a serious safety threat, and in principle, I’m in agreement – I wouldn’t want a drug dealer working on my kid’s campus either. Not stated (as yet – she promises more) is whether or not Keith McKenna has committed any nefarious deeds since taking the position. At the trial of Steve Raucci, it was implied that Keith has mended his ways, and if so, that would be a good thing, and also make him a non-threat to the kids attending Union.

What I take issue with in this section comes under the heading of ‘poor reporting.’ She states that it is her understanding that McKenna was hired by college security that was at the time headed up by a retired state trooper. She then says, “Given that at the time Steve Raucci was already under the radar of the State Police one must wonder.” If someone is ‘under’ or ‘below’ the radar, the contemporary meaning of the phrase is that they’re ‘unseen;’ that their actions are not known or noticed. If that’s the case, where is Union at fault? Simply, they aren’t, though the implication is there. Taking it a step further, if being ‘under the radar’ is here used instead of ‘under the microscope,’ then Ms. Zollinger has her metaphors confused, and that is simply ‘poor reporting.’

All in all the initial offering of this thread is rife with innuendo and falsehood that would make Ann Coulter and Carl Rove proud, or as a friend commented, the site has, “jumped the shark.”

The Binnekill Observer

Gone and none too soon

The wonders of innuendo