ZAP! #89...May 24, 2012
Sometimes, when attempting to do the right thing, it could come back and bite you. And this is one of those lemonade moments where staff of the CCR plans to turn a really sour lemon they received into an ecological Green movement. Yes, dear readers, the CCR is going Green!
Setting the scene Green: In a recent personal communication to a local cheesy, free throw publication, the CCR attempted to inform the publisher that their May-June 2012, “Special Edition” -- published just days before the recent council election -- was merely a flimsy attempt to promote candidates highly favored by special interest groups who stood to gain should these individuals be elected.
After all, the front page was an infomercial of fluffy rhetoric and a concept design rendering for the $250 million Entertainment Center. And the political leaning of guest “information” providers was also a major clue as to the bent of this “Special Edition.” Do you think the publisher was blinded by dollar signs from all the political ad revenue and special interest buys that permitted “journalistic” bias to saturate the publication?
After all, the serious pitfalls for the city with the financial agreement currently in place with the Las Colinas Group were not mentioned, discussed, or presented. Perhaps, the CCR should have sent their information on a margarita-stained cocktail napkin for easier understanding by the recipient of our e-mail.
We now recognize the error of our being concerned for the city. Little did we realize that the publisher of the publication in question (which is actually an ad-dominated pictorial for local watering holes) would take offense to our e-mail pointing out their obvious slant as being highly political. To add insult to injury, or additional bite marks on our political hide, the publisher even considered our e-mail advisement of this situation as a form of harassment* (a legal term that really didn’t fit or come close to the circumstances of what was conveyed to the publisher) and caused the individual to spew Dr. Phil sounding personality assessments replete with invectives regarding staff of the CCR. Harassment?? What is harassing about political bias being noted in a publication and then communicated to the responsible party?
Apparently, some publishers do not appreciate constructive criticism, or being informed that their veil of purpose could be very transparent. And thin-skinned sensibilities might have existed to deem an e-mail of factoids from the CCR -- that were not rebutted or proven wrong by the way -- as...harassment.
However, this is now water over the dam. It’s time to shore up the levee and move forward. And this brings us full circle to turning a Green page from this very brief e-mail squabble. Staff of the CCR believes that we can help protect the environment and increase local garden crops with just one simple concept...shredding inconsequential newsprint.
Do your part: Yes, we are going to establish a collection point for all read (bird cage-lined editions will provided additional fertilizing ingredients), unread and undistributed copies of The Burb. We’ll put the pulp to a much greater use by commercially shredding these papers to speed up the decomposing and fertilizing process. The shredded newsprint will be given to all Irving citizens for use in their council election Victory Gardens. As the recent “Special Edition” issue of The Burb demonstrated, the free throw does a better job featuring pictures of all the drunks partying at local bars then attempting to “report” or influence city issues or council candidates.
If you are interested in a free bale of garden-ready fertilizer, contact the CCR today. Supplies are not limited, so there is no need to rush your order. We’ll even include, as a bonus, shredded copies of the CCR.
………………...Mark Holbrook
* Note: the CCR staff can at least spell harassment correctly, and we do not send personal or privileged communication to an individual to a laundry list of other folks in an attempt to foster a personal agenda.
