Misc

DEAR DOCTOR KATHLEEN,

I hope you can help me break a life-long habit of collecting “strays.” I have always been drawn to people who are needy, helpless, dependent, and hurt. I love to help and to give, but eventually I always feel used and resentful that no one is there for me. And my house is filled with junk I’ve collected over the years. Somehow I think it’s all related? How can I stop this self-destructive behavior?

AMATEUR SOCIAL WORKER

Today we posted Kevin Szymanski’s 29th training video, this time focusing on the back, core and a little aerobic exercise. Again, it’s important to check with your doctor if you have not been working out…

Toyota waited until Jan. 19 to disclose to U.S. safety officials that millions of its vehicles could accelerate on their own – a problem they had known for one year, the Wall Street Journal disclosed…

I’m not much of a cartoon watcher..but this is simply a perfect sendup of Glenn Beck and his manipulating ilk. Watch it and laugh. Or cry.

Only recently have I realized that I watch more TV shows on my computer than on my television set. There are enough free sites out there that bring my favorite shows to my house whenever I…

In the truth in media department here at the CtWatchdog, here’s another shocking video. Remember when Dan Rather used a trumped-up report about George Bush and was lambasted all over for it? Well, it’s sad…

I try to be an impartial observer of the media, especially now when so much of it has become juvenile name-calling with few truths behind it. Media Matters is usually on point, despite what its…

Defendants’ Motion to Strike the Amended Complaint, Nov. 18, 2009 (PDF) Memorandum of Law in Support of Defendants’ Motion to Strike the Amended Complaint, Nov. 18, 2009 (PDF) Earlier posts Watchdog Sues Tribune: accuses Courant…

Read all about it here. CNN took a wrong turn when it let opinions cloud news. Maybe now they have it right. Says the Daily News: King, the network’s chief national correspondent and the go-to…

CNN host Lou Dobbs told his “shocked” viewers tonight that he is leaving CNN immediately. The Harvard educated anchor, who in many ways dumbed down crucial discussions of important issues, declined to say why he…

LAW TRIBUNE: Is your new web site, CTWatchdog.com, going to be a replacement for your job at the Courant?
GEORGE GOMBOSSY: It is my job. And it will become profitable over time. It has potential.

LAW TRIBUNE: Do potential advertisers shy away when you say you won’t go easy on them?
GOMBOSSY: [On my site, a propane company pays] $200 a month for an ad, knowing full well that, any chance I get I will take a shot at the propane business, because it is the most opaque, least transparent, shadiest energy business in the country.
Advertisers don’t advertise because they like the publisher or the reporter. They couldn’t care less. They scream and holler about a negative story, but they don’t cut their advertising. If they have a bad image problem, if they’re smart they take out more ads. Think about it. How did this work out for Sleepy’s? Did the Courant really protect Sleepy’s [image]? I never investigated Sleepy’s. I just followed up on an attorney general’s investigation with just normal reporting.

LAW TRIBUNE: The Courant says that your position was eliminated, and you were offered a different job.
GOMBOSSY: No. I wasn’t offered any position…I was offered severance. It would have come with a gag order and a confidentiality agreement – I didn’t read it that closely, because it would have prevented me from suing the Courant.

LAW TRIBUNE: The Courant’s lawyers say your case has important employment law and First Amendment issues of first impression.
GOMBOSSY: The reason it’s a case of first impression is because no journalist has ever sued a newspaper claiming that their right of free speech was hampered or prevented because their employer refused to publish something that was in the public’s interest to know. [In this case,] the journalist was then fired for attempting to do what his job is.