Will our kids be able to follow in our foot steps? CBS investigation on Steven Licata

OK I emailed too:

Cheryl,

I've read some of the irate responses you've received regarding "Weapons for Sale". Although those responses were inflammatory and impassioned, the root of them
are very well meaning. They are defending a professional friend, a fellow guild member if you will.

But please look deeper into your motivations and professional journalism standards. I think you'll have to admit your story is purely emotion; meant simply to appeal to the emotion of your viewers rather than their intellect. Such a story is for ratings and not reporting.

Is an $800 knife really a threat to the stability of a neighborhood? Specifically, is there any evidence, study, or documented crimes committed with custom, handmade,
art knifes?

In essence, what we have here is a story about some guy breaking a zoning law. But by simply adding some 'scarey' pictures, can we seriously call it a national news special report?

Sadly I'm too pessimistic to believe that the media's slide from reporting to tabloidism will reverse. But, from one thoughtful human being to another: can we try?

Steve
 
Just another example of yellow journalism. What do you expect when ratings have become more important than integrity. Investigative report my ass.
 
Considering the title of this thread I figured his was apropos (I am trying to track down the article mentioned but so far no luck still doesn't sound out of line with todays mentality of we should all be safe from even ourselves.....it's a Brave New World after all (when/if I do find the article I will post the info)
Makes you wonder about CBS and the rest of the mainstream media outlets? What's to wonder about? I actually read a published article yesterday, that our nations pediatricians are recommending that children should not help out their parents around the house, because it's dangerous and physically harmful. It is, after all, "for the children." Now where, have we heard that before?
Click to expand...

Also from another forum concerning Steven's plight:
I too am running a weapons manufactury in my own home. What do I produce one may ask. STICKS. I have a few large trees in the yard from which a very dangerous weapon can be harvested. These sticks can be very large and can be used to bludgeon someone to death, they can smaller and sharpened to points for poking people (better watch out or you'll end up poking an eye out!), or they can be thin and flexible - you know the kind that all children used to afraid of, those ones known as switches.....
Click to expand...

Otherwise as stated by some others here contacting CBS only will most likely have a minimal impact (from friends in the "industry" I know that most of the letters on the anti side of an article just get round filed or just fudged off to some flunky who couldn't care less - note Ms Fiandaca's "form" letter).
BUT contacting and boycotting their sponsors will make CBS, et al sit up and take notice (action always follow the money....and it is a tried and true method by those who are good at this sort of thing - I have/had a lot of friends that were/still are activists for various causes and that is their advice and their method). Contacting YOUR Congressman and the FCC (as some have done) can also be a very effective tactic.
 
What utter Bull$hit... I have been fighting gun control since I was in my teens. Since gun control is a non-starter these days(for the most part), I guess Liberals are looking for a new evil... What a load of crap.
 
weapon or tool.
I hunt and fish and love it...I use both guns and Knives...
for both protection and as tools..
(the concealed weapons permit I carry is a tool,
a government labeled and tool)

(My term for a weapon is,,
any tool used purposely to hurt, maim or destroy
anything living that feels pain. )

they are all tools but what man uses them for is
the main problem..

read on and I'll tell you what the greatest tool/weapon
to use is..

in the navy we use to use a gun to shoot a line over
a re-fueling tanker,,
to haul a bigger line to the other ship then use it
to haul the refueling
hose back to us.. yes a tool ,,,
what about the flare GUN on boats and ships,
sure these could be
used to hurt and maim but was not designed to do that ,
a tool for good.
an AK47 ? well ??
the word Weapon is a powerful selling point to those that ,
, well ,
,you can fill in the blank here.

man is the destructive part of just about anything that
goes bad
an ice-sickle hanging from someone's eves could
be used to kill someone,

this lady's microphone, camera and lack of brain
power is just as bad as any gun or weapon (weapon used to hurt someone),

AND in her case being a practitioner of the law is
worse than almost all other reporters out there,,:)

here it is...
The power of the pen?? yes it too is a very very powerful
weapon if used that way...she used it...
there is more then one way to
hurt someone. and I'm not talking about jabbing you with a pen either..

we need to use that pen to fight this
through the use of the pen,,
indeed the most powerful tool made ,, the PEN <<
our constitution and rights are written by the pen,
peace treaties by the pen, death sentences by the pen. you get my drift ..


tell me I'm wrong GUYs...and I'll tell you to look at that
letter and article again...don't let up...
 
No...I don't think you are wrong Dan. I'm fairly impressed with the results so far. It's funny though, I daresay that most of us here are also gun owners. This has been treated with common sense and mature responses (although many feel like responding a little more strongly).

If this had been a gun issue though I expect, and from sad experience, that the response would have been more of a "You Suck" nature and not nearly as many responses.

What makes knife makers different and how do you get others to follow the example!
 
peter nap said:
No...I don't think you are wrong Dan. I'm fairly impressed with the results so far. It's funny though, I daresay that most of us here are also gun owners. This has been treated with common sense and mature responses (although many feel like responding a little more strongly).

If this had been a gun issue though I expect, and from sad experience, that the response would have been more of a "You Suck" nature and not nearly as many responses.

What makes knife makers different and how do you get others to follow the example!
Click to expand...

did you see this? she got wacked.. :D


Edwin F. Kagin

Attorney and Counsellor at Law
10742 Sedco Drive, Union, Kentucky
e-mail: edwinkagin@fuse.net

P.O. Box 559 Phone: (859) 384-7000
Union, KY 41091 Fax: (859) 384-7324


May 15, 2004

Cheryl.Fiandaca
WCBS-TV
524 West 57 Street
New York, NY 10019

RE: CLAIM OF STEVEN LICATA

Dear Ms. Fiandaca:

Please be advised that I have been retained by Mr. Steven Licata of Garfield, New Jersey to prosecute a claim, in Kentucky, for injunctive relief and damages, against you, and against WCBS, for your irresponsible, and defamatory publication of May 11, 2004, which on this date continues to be available for public consumption in the Commonwealth of Kentucky in both printed form and as a video readily accessible by a home computer.

I note from your most impressive bio that you are licensed to practice law in several jurisdictions. Please take notice that while False Light tort litigation does not sound in your jurisdictions, it is alive and well in Kentucky.

My client, who is not a public figure, has been falsely portrayed by you and your station as a harmful and undesirable person who is also negligent toward his child. My client, the son of a retired Chief of Police, holds a BFA, Bachelor of Fine Arts, four year degree from The School of Visual Arts, E. 23rd St., New York, NY. He has never been arrested, and your malicious defamatory libel has caused him to be looked upon as somehow dangerous by those in his community, something that has never before occurred, to the point that he feels it necessary to move.

The art objects he produces, which you so callously and tortuously defame, are hardly the type of weapons bought by those who make headlines in such stories as your May 15, 2004 report, “Two Women Stabbed in the Bronx.” Indeed, you would be hard pressed indeed to show evidence of any violence of any kind attributable to collectors and others who purchase art knives, and related artifacts, at prices of hundreds or thousands of dollars, or to any evidence of such items having been used in crimes. These works appear not in courts, but in collections and exhibits.

Your obvious intent was not to praise the artist or his art, as has so often been the case with knife makers whose work product is viewed by knowledgeable persons and institutions, including the Smithsonian, as something far different from hardware store pig-stickers, or grocery store carving knifes. Steve Licata’s presence in his community should be viewed as something positive and desirable, and he and his work praised. Instead, he has been subjected to the studied humiliation of your report, to vilification based on ignorance, and to the slander of your uninformed bias.

You, and your T.V. station have published in a most public, derogatory, and condemning manner facts about my client designed by you to gratuitously create a false and highly misleading impression of a craftsman artist, alleging that he offers “death for sale.’ This is the essence of the False Light privacy tort lawsuit recognized in Kentucky. Further, you have, by your admission, filmed in his home without his knowledge or consent. This unconscionable deliberate conduct constitutes invasion of privacy and trespass. Your pogrom against him has generated damages.

Please consider this a formal demand for an immediate retraction and correction of the challenged material. Further, please consider this a formal demand that you cease and desist forthwith from continuing publication of the defamations herein alleged. Failing this, a lawsuit may be filed ten days from receipt without further notice to you.

Sincerely,


Edwin F. Kagin
 
A lawyer protecting freedom instead of helping destroy it is a good thing. I hope she learned a lesson.
 
If this had been a gun issue though I expect, and from sad experience, that the response would have been more of a "You Suck" nature and not nearly as many responses.
Click to expand...

Probably because so many gun owners have been fighting this kind of nonsense for so long and have just gotten kicked in the teeth so often by the "media" that we are burnt out and kneejerk reactions are our first reactions. Singing to the choir helps, but even that gets a bit touchy after awhile. Still I carry on and any one concerned with this type of media crap and if you want to help you retain your rights IMO should join the NRA - I may not agree with them 100% but they truly are the last best group effort (they have also gone to bat over injustices for other than gunowners).

Sadly I doubt that any of this will have much impact on Ms. Fiandaca and those of her ilk in so far as "seeing the light" (it may have some on her job, but I won't hold my breath for even that - the medai likes controversy because it sells - an old saw in the media industry is "If it bleeds it leads" so you can see their mind set) - those types are too set in their viewpoints and that viewpoint is one of "moral" superiority.
 
she has not as of yet taking it off the web
and some of it she may not because of freedom of the press,
but I can't see her not FIXing it up AGAIN :rolleyes:

If I know the type
she'll sink herself spite her nose..lets see if I'm right :D
 
Looks like Mr. Kagin's letter might be doing something to CBS, the article is no longer available at the website!

I searched the whole site trying to get to the video and it's now as if it never happened..... hmmmmmmmmmm :eek:

And I did check and see that older stories are still available - back to the 9th - so they can't say it's time was up.
 
The link is gone now... it looks like CBS took the story off the boards.

I still think that Steven Licata should get damages for this anyway, I heard on another forum that he was moving.
 
I'm not trying to be a wet towel here but since the title of this thread included children please read theis -
"TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - As more children pop pills for attention deficit and other behavior disorders, new figures show spending on those drugs has for the first time edged out the cost of antibiotics and asthma medications for kids.

A 49 percent rise in the use of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder drugs by children under 5 in the last three years contributed to a 23 percent increase in usage for all children, according to an annual analysis of drug use trends by Medco Health Solutions Inc."

For the rest of the article go here - http://apnews.excite.com/article/20040517/D82KE7K01.html

Now the really SCARY part - in many, MANY states the llegal statute of "in loco parentis" allows the schools to give YOUR children these type of drugs WITHOUt your input. The bloody school "nurses" hand theses thigns out like candy.

As to CBS pulling their "article" well I'm real cynical about this stuff but I'm adding my dos pesos anyway - it most likely got pulled because of either Steven's pending lawsuit (hopefully) or more likely due to the fact that the story just ran it's course.

Sorry guys but after the Supreme Court found the McCain-Feingold Act "constitutional" (looit up for yourself- VERRRRY SCARY) I just don't have a bunch of faith.....
 
Chuck, I could go one about this and so many other things for hours.
I was corresponding with a friend in England the other day and he laughed and said that I was getting old and old people always think things are going to hell.

That's true but I see things now that I had read about in the history books under Hitler's rule.

When my kids were in high school, I was the horror of the school board. They would do anything NOT to talk to me.

I had several non published numbers then and had one that I gave out for emergencies. The school policy was that they had ALL phone numbers for each household and they brought my daughter in and told her she would be suspended if she did not provide them.

She did, I changed the numbers the next day and visited the school. Most Black/knife smiths will appreciate that I shook hands with the Asst Principle, a rather thin man without much of a grip :D

The frightening thing Chuck is that at least fifty percent of the parents either think these policies are good or just go along because you "can't Buck The System".

The very fact that the drugs you mentioned are handed out like candy is beyond belief. These kids aren't sick, some are spirited, some are spoiled and some just have a mean streak but sick....no way. Sure there is some limited use in some individuals....but not the number of kids on them.
This is simply a way to control the kids, to make them behave because the teachers are no longer allowed to act like teachers.

The schools have asked kids to inform on their parents for a long time now. It's impossible to raise your children with any family privacy.

I would not get social security numbers for my children in grade school. I thought it was wrong and in fact sued the state school board over their policy requiring them. They settled and waived the policy.

All the schools (in the country I assume) now have resource officers. Cops in other words. Anyone know why...I sure as hell don't. I'm sure that it's to prevent violence......Well this idea has caused it's own set of unique problems.
Remember when we were in school. There were always conflicts. There was always a bully (even if you were the bully, there was always another one)

Sooner or later there would be a fight. Now as I remember these fights they were mostly wrestling matches with a few punches thrown. No guns, knives, bombs,etc.
Why have kids gotten more violent. I think it's because they aren't allowed to be kids anymore. School yard fights are now assaults and police have to be called (hell, they are already there). Fights aren't tolerated now. They have all these hormones kicking up in their system and no way to burn some of it off. It builds up and someone blows once in a while.

For those of you that have watched Ralphie's Christmas story, after having his mouth washed out with soap, he fantasizes that someday he will go blind from "Soap poisoning". That's one of my favorite lines but in real life kids dream of this type of revenge all the time. With no natural outlets (I'm not talking about the damn fool counselors or midnight basketball) sometimes they act out the fantasy. Some commit suicide, some turn to drugs, some just go ballistic.
All the time these soccer moms are wringing their hands asking for new legislation to correct what she should have had a handle on all the time.

While grade school and high school are trying times (they were for all of us) they are also times we learn to handle problems. If we don't, we won't be able to function when we leave home either for college or the military or to work. We have a very short time to prepare our kids for the world. Many parents want the schools to do it for us. Educators on the other hand, have no idea what color the sky is.

End of rant...
 
peter nap said:
Educators on the other hand, have no idea what color the sky is.
This is simply a way to control the kids, to make them behave because the teachers are no longer allowed to act like teachers
End of rant...
Click to expand...
no Don not all of them :grumpy: ;)

no longer allowed to act like teachers?,,,

no.... they can,, it's just so much hassle
and not worth a law suit from so called parents,,,most kids just need a strap on the a$$ when needed, it didn't kill me...

I just got my wife through collage about 4 years ago to teach.
she's 45 and at least she knows the color of the sky
she's doing it
because she knows she can make some different in the school
they at her school really don't know what to make of her.
but they know that they want her there, at least the higher ups..
the other teachers are now being held to a little more higher standard now also ;)
you are right about a lot of what you say
but I think it's still the media that is the root of 95 % of the troubles
we have, since the advertising of med on TV sales have boosted like 300%
it's a fix all for the lack of prenatal duties,
if two people have kids and can't stay together for them, they didn't think
a whole lot with their brains in the first place and shouldn't have had them,, what are these kids left with???
I'm not saying all of them, but the majority of them are in this boat..

my wife is basically a state paid babysitter/nanny, 80% of 3rd grade kids can't even chew food with their month closed or tell time on a reg watch, or use a ruler..3rd grade...
well I know one 3rd grade that can at least now...

I don't have all day to rant but I sure would like to set down with a few state guys and give them a piece of my mind... :mad: our school isn't giving out the med like some of the others yet but
I know the doc's are doing just what you is saying.. to the so called hyper kids :(

one of the kids here has been labeled with disgrafia
that kid needs a stable family that doesn't fight all the time
and having more kids by boy friends and drunk all the time,
and he gets labeled????

a bunch of fu^^%$#& a hole dogs..

this world it starting suck big time,,,

Mass just pasted a gay marriage law,, why??? what the he!l is the point??
the though of two guys with hairy a$$ holes getting it on,, just makes me sick. :barf:
....what the hell do our kids have to look for in a future... :mad:
I got to stop...or I'll blow a gasket...
 
Dan, I didn't intend to insult your wife. I guess I should include definitions with my rants. By educators, I am referring to the structure and more specifically, the Administrators.

My mother was a teacher in a better time and I think she was quite good at it. The goal was to educate the kids then, not control them. Control was easy. First, a teacher or any member of the school right down to the janitors, were respected people. Respected by the students and community. They weren't always liked by the students but they were respected.

Second, if you got too far out of line, a trip to the principals office and on occasion a swat from the student adjuster :eek: solved the issue once and for all. I got the adjuster 3 times between first grade and 7th grade. I am proud to say I deserved each one and a few I didn't get! :D

My grandfather was a schoolmaster. He taught 1st grade through 12th. Those were really different times. He was the teacher in the Porky MacKenzie story and my father was the knife wielder! :o

Times are different now. To start off the school system feels it can invade the very place we live. I haven't told this story to many people, but it highlights mt point about the arrogance of our school district here.

Naw, I don't want to tell this one! :eek:

Anyway Dan, the comments were not directed at your wife or her equals. It was intended to hit the bureaucrats and bean counters.
 
I know it may not be a popular opinion nowadays and I'm by no means a saint. But THE biggest problem in this country is that America has turned it's back on God. Period.
 
no problem Don / peter :confused:
:) I know where your coming from
you hit the nail on the head too Mark if there is no fear of the unknown
there is nothing to hold them back.

some religion is better that no religion at all in school, as long as the good book has not been rewritten a 100 time's

government and religion will not mix,, someone said?? yeah right
tell that to J Jackson or the 700 club block head :confused: :(
this thing fits right in here.
smileyrrrr.gif
:D
 
peter nap said:
All the time these soccer moms are wringing their hands asking for new legislation to correct what she should have had a handle on all the time.
Click to expand...

AMEN!!!!

It's the parents' way of passing the buck, "I didn't create this monster... it's someone else's fault."

Month Python had a funny line, which has turned into a dark forshadowing:

Murderer: "Yes, I did it, but society is to blame."

Policeman: "OK. Well, we'll just take them away instead."
 
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