#1 2009-06-14 09:06:13
Just a few points I thought we're hilarious....
I sent an e-mail to Standard-Times editor Bob Unger alerting him to this situation. He lacked the courage to respond back. Instead he chose to write another hit piece. Hiding behind his computer seems to be about his speed.
Has BoBo EVER left his computer? Rag Man even states he sent an e-mail implying he was hiding behind his computer. You always hide BoBo, you don't have the balls to confront anyone face to face.
State law gives selectmen the right investigate any and all town departments. While that doesn't make them police officers, it does give them the right to look into allegations of wrong-doing. Not even the Standard-Times can deny that.
This one has actually been grinding my gears for a while. I THOUGHT THIS WAS AN AUDIT?!! Which is it BoBo? You and the BOS should be on the same page. In one breath you (both) state it's a regular audit, in the next breath it's an investigation into wrong-doing.
There are REAL investigative agencies that investigate "wrong-doing," why not contact them? Oh, because its not something illegal or corrupt, but something that's going up the board's ass and they want to stop it......and make it look like corruption.
Basically it all comes down to the word of senior WCTV technician Steve Ruiz, who also happened to set up the audio last summer during a secret recall meeting the Observer learned about and attended uninvited (interestingly, a Standard-Times reporter was also in attendance, telling me she had been invited by the host).
And to further fuel this conspiracy, Ruiz waited more than a year to put his master plan into effect. God forbid he knows how to set up audio. Bobo are you trying to make the claim that anyone who helps out ANYONE that is not buddy-buddy with the board is DIRTY? I'm willing to be Ruiz could care less about politics.
I have listened to the recording. Selectman John Cronan said some ignorant things. He also came to the meeting near the end, missing nearly 45 minutes of previous discussion on the audit. He took a cheap shot at two department heads and noted that the departure of the police chief was perfect timing. The Standard-Times said that proved the resignation/retirement of the chief was coincidental to the investigation. That’s one interpretation of it. Another is that the chief’s willing departure means the town wouldn’t have to force him out. And yes, it did help the public perception of the audit. Apparently that's what drove the Standard-Times crazy.
Can't wait to read the full meeting notes on that meeting! And I thought Bobo would have changed this by now because.... do you think the Cheif could set up his cushy job within two weeks of his retirement announcement?
No one can get a job like that in that span of time. CLEARLY he had the job set up weeks prior to his retirement, and most likely before his suspension and "audit."
There are no words to describe the insanity of that. What exactly did selectmen discuss for the other 67 minutes of the meeting? Their favorite colors? I have no doubt selectmen would like to end the practice of town employees defaming people while on the clock, but that is one tiny aspect of a far bigger investigation.
Maybe they should let the public know what they were talking about, but if you think we're stupid enough to believe that the conversation was professional prior to the recording, you are sick in the head.
Contrary to what the partisans are claiming, the selectmen haven’t been leaking information to me. I already know what they’re looking for. The Observer has been investigating allegations of corruption for nearly a year. We’ve heard all about pornography and on-line gambling on town computers. We’re well-aware that some employees have been moonlighting while on the town’s dime, using town-owned computers to run their businesses. While all that would be more than enough to justify the $40,000 or so this investigation will ultimately cost, that’s still not what this is about. No, this is much bigger.
He really just nullified his first sentence. Glad Bobo is on the case! And let's say that laundry list is legit.... this couldn't wait until the next fiscal year? When we have a little money.... at the very least they'd have more evidence to find because those crazy corrupt employees would be continuing to abuse their work computers.
Last edited by commonsense (2009-06-14 09:06:55)
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#2 2009-06-14 12:27:18
I have listened to the recording. Selectman John Cronan said some ignorant things. He also came to the meeting near the end, missing nearly 45 minutes of previous discussion on the audit.
Why, according to "Bobby's News," Bobby was sitting in on the Executive Session! Oh, my...
~ click, click ~
Auto-edited on 2020-08-11 to update URLs
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#3 2009-06-14 14:35:15
DAY TWO AND HE IS ALREADY GIVING OUT FREE ARTICLES. WHAT A CHUMP. CHRIST CANT EVEN HOLD OUT FOR A WEEK.
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#4 2009-06-14 15:52:48
Damn, and I was so happy only the elected "leaders" would be reading this crap now.
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#5 2009-06-14 19:38:35
Commonsense wrote: "Can't wait to read the full meeting notes on that meeting! And I thought Bobo would have changed this by now because.... do you think the Cheif could set up his cushy job within two weeks of his retirement announcement?"
The laugh is on BOBO. Did you see last week's tritown? BoBo gave the Marion -selectmen, I think - a big jeer because they did not have a fire chief in place when they had allthe time in the world to find one...hmmm now that he knows they had a replacement, will he give them a cheer this week? Must suck, huh ragman? Not all towns will leak you executive session information to print in your rag.
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#6 2009-06-15 00:35:57
the biggest jeer of the week was for ace reporter (and photographer) Andrea Smith..the DB printed a letter to the editor from a distraught attendee of the ORR graduation..Smith got her job a the rag based on the fact she lived near the plaza!!..how long will it be until she is owed money like everyone else that has worked for that douche-bag??
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#7 2009-06-15 08:08:05
The Chief really got them good and they never saw it coming. Ragman ran with the "oh something bad must be coming if he's throwing his retirement benefits away." Nope, as far as I know, Marion is part of the Plymouth County Retirement Board, and the Chief will be an Interim Fire Chief, so looks like he's all set.
Cue Simpsons Nelson Voice - HA HA!
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#8 2009-06-15 08:22:16
Hey, Ragman had this in the Rag for about 5 minutes a few weeks ago, but then did one of his spontaneous revisions and took it out (it's ok Ragman I saved a copy if you need it) but as I recall, it said the Chief did appeal the suit and there was a hearing about it June 15, which I'll be danged is today.
Can anyone confirm that, anyone hear anything? Dare we dream Appeals judges can spot a Ragman from a mile away?
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#9 2009-06-15 09:18:10
What appeal are you talking about? I heard ITA on the tape say that the Chief didn't have the week's suspension as part of the retirement deal.
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#10 2009-06-15 12:07:16
Mixie, I meant the rag suit. It would make sense, the Ragman said in April he had 30 days to appeal or pay , if he paid, wouldn't Ragman have gloated by now?
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#11 2009-06-15 13:31:08
Have you ever noticed how ragboy connects absolutely every article in some way to the library? No matter what the article is about, there is always a sentence or two minimum on the library even when there is absolutely no logical connection to the library that could possibly be made by anyone with a brain. His latest free online article on his pay per view site states:
"There are a lot of things the Standard-Times isn’t telling you. CBW board member Richard Wheeler joined the paper’s community editorial board a while back. Wheeler’s wife is a former library trustee being sued by the town for allegedly participating in conversion of public funds. The Standard-Times won’t reveal who writes its editorials. One of the ad representatives for SouthCoast Hospitals (a huge advertiser for the paper) was the director of the Wareham Library Foundation. CBW board member Bill Heaney used to work for SouthCoast Hospitals."
So, we go from the BOS blowing it during an illegal executive session to all of a sudden, making a connection to one of the trustees of the library? I've heard of six degrees of separation, but for ragboy, when he can't think of any more fictitious comments to make about the topic du jour, he resorts to library bashing again.
Uh, I'm not a journalist, but my guess on who writes the editorials for a real newspaper---The editor or editorial staff??
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#12 2009-06-15 16:35:10
And I drive by Tobey Hospital a few times per week so I guess ragman is right. It is one big conspiracy!
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#13 2009-06-15 21:17:16
The only thing that keeps his paper (now on-line blog)hanging around is the references made here. I think he's at a point that if he is ignored he will go away.
The only positive note is he is now charging for the paper and the website...thank God at least our summer folks won't have to pick up the free local "Liarbserver" anymore. They probably won't even notice it is missing.
As a community we need to support the S-T then we will get more coverage hopefully not just the embarrasing stuff.
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#14 2009-06-21 08:13:59
Do I recall correctly that when it was on the free page Mr. Slager in his long bio he said he worked for The San Francisco TIMES.
I never heard of this, unless he meant the San Francisco BAY Times, a LGBT free print and online weekly.
See if you can find it HERE
http://www.newslink.org/canews.html
As others have written, if he really wanted to have an impact on the community he'd keep his paper and website free.
I think he also justified his decision to charge for online by saying the New York Times did this. In fact a year or two ago they tried to charge for SOME online content, did this for a few months, and went back to totally free. The only major national paper to charge online is (as far as I know) the Wall Street Journal.
If he wants to make his online site pay better he should put a sidebar on the right and put his ads there.
Last edited by urneighbor (2009-06-21 08:15:29)
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#15 2009-06-21 08:58:52
His editorial newsletter is not worth paying for. Next step is he will follow the Chief Joyce to Marion write more lies about him, follow the former Library lady to Matt.and write more lies about her, advertisers will drop out then he will have to charge those folks and then the door closes on his "Liarbserver" newsletter.
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#16 2009-06-21 09:37:54
Being from another town with close friends in Wareham I like to keep up. I'm not as hard on Slager as most of you (at least not at present) but then I don't know how to piece out the truth from the fiction, the opinion from the facts. I did find some of the actual news he put online informative .
So - somebody - did he really say he worked for the San Francisco Times which as far as I can tell never existed?
Meanwhile instead of charging for his online edition he should ask somebody that knows how to effectively design a website with ads how to do it.
The problem with charging for the paper is that it can't be distributed anyplace where owners aren't willing to sell it, I assume The Narrows for example. He should forget the print edition and, like the no capital "the" Wareham Observer just have an online edition.
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#17 2009-06-21 10:02:45
urneighbor wrote:
Being from another town with close friends in Wareham I like to keep up. I'm not as hard on Slager as most of you (at least not at present) but then I don't know how to piece out the truth from the fiction, the opinion from the facts. I did find some of the actual news he put online informative .
So - somebody - did he really say he worked for the San Francisco Times which as far as I can tell never existed?
Meanwhile instead of charging for his online edition he should ask somebody that knows how to effectively design a website with ads how to do it.
The problem with charging for the paper is that it can't be distributed anyplace where owners aren't willing to sell it, I assume The Narrows for example. He should forget the print edition and, like the no capital "the" Wareham Observer just have an online edition.
No. He should just close up shop and leave this town alone.
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#18 2009-06-21 10:13:39
urneighbor wrote:
Do I recall correctly that when it was on the free page Mr. Slager in his long bio he said he worked for The San Francisco TIMES. I never heard of this, unless he meant the San Francisco BAY Times, a LGBT free print and online weekly.
The newspaper explains why he won an award for his story on his friend who died from AIDS. (not to minimize the sadness of the occassion)
Ragman mislead the readers. Yet he is the first to look for errors in other reporters - like when he points out that he went as far as to inform the editor of the s-t that the senior correspondent identified himself as a writer. Ya know, I get it now. Ragman feels like the low man on the journalist's pole and he is not about to let anyone rise above himself if he can find a way to keep him or her down. He applies this to all aspects. He is driven to keep people down so he can feel better about himself - or at least feel that no one is better than he.
I know the truth hurts ragman but you can feel better by going for counseling and rising above your self-defeating self.
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#19 2009-06-21 11:07:03
HERE is says he worked for the San Francisco Examiner which also sounds like a real newspaper, until you check it out HERE.
Now what is it exactly he did when he worked for the Boston Herald? A web search comes up with nothing, unusual if not unheard of for a bylined writer for a major paper which publishes online. Even Steve Urbon has over 1600 pages on a Google search of his name and Standard Times.
I did find a reference to a Robert Slager who won this weekly 2nd place 2005 New England Press
Association Better Newspaper Contest award:
Robert Slager
Weymouth News, Weymouth, MA
Robert Slager’s “In This Corner” column pays tribute to a tough athlete who refused to let surgery for bone cancer wash away his dream to compete. Slager sets the gritty tone of the column early when he writes of the youth’s mother, “Four years ago she told the doctors at South Shore Hospital that cancer could not have her son. The daughter of a Marine simply would not allow it.” Slager uses short, active declarative sentences to punch his main points across. It is a powerful read about a tough and
determined young man.
OKAY - just some more questions since I'm a new poster here. Now here's something that has me REALLY puzzled.
Mr. Slager writes:
The Standard-Times has abandoned any and all semblance of ethics in its clear mission to thwart the democratic process in Wareham and install a government that will cater to the special interest groups in Wareham. Then those special interest groups will cater to the Standard-Times.
The reason isn’t difficult to figure out. The Standard-Times is in desperate financial shape. They closed their printing press a few months ago, laying off dozens of people. There have been waves of lay-offs in their newsroom. Apparently they’ve grown so desperate for the special interest advertising dollars they are letting the CBW shape their entire editorial policy.
He seems to be saying that the S-T wants a Wareham government that will cater to them, a newspaper.
How, why, waaaaa?
He finds the reason easy to figure out. Suposedly there are special interest groups who will funnel advertising dollars to them. This is a strong accusation. I think as the journalist he says he is, he MUST explain who these people are and exactly how they will benefit the S-T's finances.
Last edited by urneighbor (2009-06-21 11:45:20)
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#20 2009-06-21 12:47:52
neighbor, the ragman doesn't have to explain anything. He just writes it and some people believe it.
Last edited by TBL (2009-06-21 12:54:41)
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#21 2009-06-21 12:57:58
Thank you, urneighbor. I appreciate your critique of the papers. What you say makes a lot of sense. I think the average rag follower takes what he has to say as the truth and fact does not enter in to their minds. They are angry people who delight in hurting people....and they take about the hate bloggers?????
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#22 2009-06-21 16:26:20
Not that I've read every post here, far from it, but I don;t see much I'd characterize as "hate blogging". I see some angry messages, some very disappointed messages, lots of frustration which leads to exasperation at times.
If Slager wants to assume the title journalist he needs to be held accountable to accepted journalistic practices. I also see this blog and the S-T as being two related but different ways to achieve a decent level of journalism too, this blog being what's recently been called "citizen journalism".
I see no problem with Slager trying to hold the S-T and the without a capital T-the Wareham Observer to a standard of truth, but each is different. But like I wrote before, Slager shouldn't hurl out unsupported allegations.
The S-T is a newspaper and must identify sources or assure it's readers that sources are reliable and explain why they aren't being identified. Blogging on hot local political issues is the modern version of anonymous whistle blowing, or even writing on a wall late at night or blanketing a town with unsigned flyers because people fear retribution.
Blogs like this provide an early warning system where people can say first "I smell smoke, maybe there's fire", then "I see smoke, there's probably fire" and somewhere between the two a prudent person will call the fire department.
The caution for posters here is that every time you smell smoke there isn't necessarily fire. You could be having an olfactory hallucination.
Last edited by urneighbor (2009-06-21 16:29:08)
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#23 2009-06-21 19:07:47
urneighbor wrote:
Not that I've read every post here, far from it, but I don;t see much I'd characterize as "hate blogging".
Our troubles haven't gone unnoticed and boatloads of mail have washed up from distant places. One, written this morning, suggested changing the banner weather forecast to shitstorm and adding the legend, "Where the fourth estate meets the fifth column".
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#24 2009-06-28 08:56:11
You guys are killing me .. I laugh so hard at this site. I hope you guys don't beat me up too bad. I love that rag I gotta tell ya. A lot of it may be opinion but he has balls. With so many haters it seems like it just makes him stronger. He feeds off the fury. I don't know him. But isn't he pretty much running that paper by himself? That ST like has lots of employees, rite? This towns politics is off the hook as the kids say. Even the kids are interested in all the crap thats going on. They ask me everyday whats new. I tell them about this site and ST and Slager. They like it.
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#25 2009-06-28 09:18:35
The problem with what Slager does. It is full of so much opinion and so little fact. That it does nothing but cause chaos. He puts lies out there. Lies that hurt people. I believe that he is now running the paper on his own at this point because even the people who were working there and supported what he was doing at first realize that he has gone to far.
You claim he has balls, And feeds off of the fury,But truth be told he keeps the fury going by writing outlandish stories filled with more opinion than fact.
That pisses people off, they talk about it here. Then he writes about what is said. If anything Mr. Slager should be paying Bill W. for providing most of the content in his paper. Also unlike Slager The S-T for the most part is making an attempt to let both sides state thier opinion. That is more that I could ever say for Slager.
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#26 2009-06-28 09:22:07
"The Ragman has balls."
That's hilarious. He's the most pathetic little man the world has ever seen.
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#27 2009-06-28 18:53:20
GWB I called the ST once a while back about a serious situation regarding this town .. dangerous ... they did nothing. All I could figure is they called Joyce up and he told them not to address it. They did nothing. they should have at least looked into it. I feel they were in cahoots with Joyce and now are mad cuz hes gone. sorry I can not trust them.
I think we all keep this going. We have all learned to enjoy it. I know I am. I wake up and jump on this computor. I'm hooked on the drama. Theres gotta be a lot more like me out there. Even the young people are paying attention. I m hearing it everyday. They want updates. They think the little movies on this site are crazy. You wouldnt believe what they say about them.
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#28 2009-06-28 18:55:59
Hamatron5000 wrote:
"The Ragman has balls."
Yeah, but whose balls?
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#29 2009-06-28 18:56:31
hahah Hammatron I made you laugh. I will arm wrestle you if you wanna. hahahh. Used to be stronger than the boys in my younger day. Dont mess with me. :)
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#30 2009-06-28 19:02:11
Mixie Whos balls? hahah.
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#31 2009-06-28 19:18:37
Ragman has tiny crystal balls.
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