[TheForge] Letter to Les Moonves, CEO, CBS Inc.

[gblacksmith]

Andy:  Were you also aware that Ms. Fiandaca is also an attorney and member
of the MA Bar?  I think she would understand the implicatoins of being an
instrument of the State quite well.  Perhaps she could be crowned  "Scourge
of the Craftsman."

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andy Vida" <osan at netlabs.net>
To: <knife-list at kepler-eng.com>; "4g" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>;
<artmetal at wugate.wustl.edu>
Sent: Sunday, May 16, 2004 11:06 AM
Subject: [TheForge] Letter to Les Moonves, CEO, CBS Inc.


> OK, i guess I got myself all in the spirit this morning, so I wrote to
> the CEO of CBS.  I'm very curious to see what may trasnspire.  I doubt
> anything will, but I am more than willing to be proven wrong.
>
> -Andy
>
> Here it is:
>
> 9704 NE 16th St.
> Vancouver, WA 98664
>
> Les Moonves, CEO
> CBS Inc.
> 51-T W. 52nd St.
> New York, NY 10019
> Sunday, May 16, 2004
> RE: Report on Steven Licata by Cheryl Fiandaca
>
> Dear Mr. Moonves,
>
> It is my displeasure to bring to your attention a report made by your
> Ms. Fiandaca about a business owned and operated by one Mr. Steven
> Licata of Garfield NJ.  In her report, Ms. Fiandaca paints what appears
> to be a highly misleading characterization of Mr. Licata and his
> business.  The report is fraught with innuendo, implying that Mr. Licata
> is engaging in illegitimate business and somehow endangering the
> community in which he resides.   This report greatly impugns his
> personal character without providing so much as an iota of substance to
> support her implications.  I have made my displeasure known to CBS News
> by email, a copy of which is enclosed for your information.  I will
> further make it known to you that Ms. Fiandaca's report has come to the
> attention of hundreds, if not over one thousand, blacksmiths and knife
> makers nation wide, and beyond.  I am in contact with many of them and I
> can tell you that they have received this report with utter shock,
> dismay, and anger.  CBS has managed to earn the derision and ire of many
> people with this publication and Ms. Fiandaca has managed to gravely
> injure the image of CBS.  From the timbre of the responses I have seen
> thus far, CBS may experience some lingering negative effects of this
> unjust, inept, and apparently mal-intended report.  Time will tell.
>
> I find it hard to understand why a broadcasting company such as yours
> would be so irresponsible as to publish a report on a matter without
> fulfilling its obligation to due diligence in sufficiently researching
> the subject matter beforehand.  Such ineptitude and negligence is to be
> expected of a small child, but not from a presumably well-trained
> professional journalist.   The only other possible conclusion one can
> reasonably come to is that CBS knowingly allowed one of its agents to
> embark on a vicious tirade of character assassination against a man who
> is an artist and a craftsman running a perfectly legitimate business
> similar to those of hundreds of others across the United States.  A
> rational and reasonable person may only guess at the motives for such
> inexcusable behavior and can only wonder whether it was intentional.
> Further damning your spokesperson is the fact that Mr. Licata also makes
> very fine musical instruments, yet nothing of this was mentioned.
> Asking why this might be so, a few answers that immediately make
> themselves painfully obvious are bias against Mr. Licata's business, a
> depraved and callous disregard for his rights and welfare, and some
> agenda to purposefully bring him to personal harm.  Yes Mr. Moonves,
> these are the questions that come into the minds of reasoning people
> when they see such inexplicably shabby treatment of individuals by
> billion dollar corporate entities such as CBS.
>
> That CBS would publish a whining polemic against a man who minds his own
> business and harms nobody is bordering on the unforgivable and seriously
> calls into question the character and abilities of its staff from the
> CEO down to its janitors.  The nature of the innuendo therein is so
> egregiously flawed and seemingly vicious as to defy the belief that it
> could have happened by accident.  The fact that CBS has effectively
> acted as an instrument of the state by "exposing" him to local
> authorities brings deep suspicion to your doorstep.  CBS has now
> demonstrated itself to be a "squealer," broadcasting the indelible image
> of a large corporate entity that is not to be trusted in any way, or for
> any reason.  I regret to inform you that CBS is no longer a credible
> entity.
>
> Further damaging your image and driving credibility into the negative
> integer range is the fact that at least a dozen letters to CBS/Fiandaca
> were responded to with the precise same canned letter which I have also
> attached for your information.  Had the letter been nothing more than an
> acknowledgement of receipt, I would see no problem with it; but that it
> contained what I can only term as fawning and disingenuously hyperbolic
> language, telling the recipient that their input is "incalculably
> valuable", only serves to make CBS look all the more foolish, insincere,
> and as they are not to be trusted.
>
> As if this was not enough, I will now address the issue of hypocrisy at
> CBS, which fairly well lays waste all but the barest thread of a hope
> for any redemption in the minds of intelligent adults.  As your esteemed
> Ms. Fiandaca was busily going about the task of trying to set to ruin
> the business of an upstanding member of a New Jersey community with her
> baseless innuendo with which she paints a man as a somehow dangerous
> supplier of "deadly" weapons to an unspecified, yet similarly smeared
> clientele, CBS panders to the public fascination with violence by airing
> productions such as "Helter Skelter" and "Swordfish", to name but two of
> a seemingly endless torrent of mindlessly violent television
> productions.  I would be very interested in knowing the justification
> for glorifying violence by airing it as commonly and wantonly as CBS
> does while from the other side of the corporate mouth you whine about it
> whilst damaging honest people in the process.  How does CBS explain such
> behavior such that we, the public to whom you are bound by law to serve,
> will say back to you "yes that is perfectly reasonable and right"?  I
> defy CBS to present such an explanation for review by your viewers.
>
> Since the report I have been in contact with Mr. Licata, of whom I knew
> nothing beforehand.  He seems an articulate and intelligent man, judging
> from my exchanges with him, and shows no sign of being the shady
> character that your agent, Ms. Fiandaca, offered up in innuendo to the
> public.  Based on my discussions with Mr. Licata, he appears to have
> been significantly damaged by the report, and to be candid it is my hope
> that he retains counsel to investigate the possibility of taking legal
> action against CBS, but that is neither my business nor relevant to the
> purpose of this letter.
>
> What is relevant is my challenge to you personally, Mr. Moonves, as I
> have challenged CBS in the more general case (see the enclosed letter)
> to have a different journalist (preferably a real one this time)
> reinvestigate Mr. Licata's business, give it a proper and honest
> context, and do a follow up report.  Upon finding nothing of substance
> against Mr. Licata's business as may directly relate to the report as
> published, I would then expect a very public front-page style apology on
> air and in print to Mr. Licata and a formal letter asking his
> forgiveness.  It may all sound a hokey bother to a large broadcast
> corporation such as CBS that may in fact deem itself immune to public
> opinion, but I assure you that you are being watched carefully by a not
> insignificant number of intelligent, capable, angry, and motivated
> people.
>
> The only way CBS will be able to regain even a modicum of trust and
> credibility in the eyes of a large number of people will be to come
> clean on the issue of the report on Mr. Licata and make a four star
> retraction of every hideously contrived word Ms Fiandaca so
> irresponsibly spewed forth into the public domain.  The next act of good
> faith that would go a longer way towards showing sincerity and integrity
> will be to fire Ms. Fiandaca forthwith and with cause, as well as her
> supervisors who allowed her shameful drivel to be published.
>
> Short of these, there is certainly nothing CBS will be able to do that
> will convince me and many others that it is anything better than a hack
> organization and a den of vicious and petty liars whose access to
> broadcast facilities should be terminated forthwith.  I am giving you
> fair notice that not only will I be copying as many of your advertisers
> as possible on this issue, I believe that hundreds and perhaps even
> thousands of others may be doing the same.  I will also alert you to the
> fact that in some internet forums there has been talk of starting a
> campaign against CBS and its advertisers in response to Ms. Fiandaca's
> report.  I thought it only fair to alert you to this possibility.
>
> I don't know what sort of man you are, Mr. Moonves, so I will give you
> the benefit of the doubt by reserving all judgment on your character
> until such time as the CBS response becomes apparent to the public.  I
> very much look forward to you proving yourself a man of integrity,
> honesty, fairness, and prompt action as I await CBS's substantive
> response.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
>
>
> Andrew Vida
> President
> Proof Technologies LLC
> mailto:osan at netlabs.net
> Enclosure (2)
> av
> _______________________________________________
> Manage membership or unsubscribe at:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/theforge
> theforge mail list group photo site is
> http://www.photoaccess.com
> Login:  blacksmithblacksmith at hotmail.com
> password:  anvil
> ___________
>
>
>