My response to Jennifer Livingston’s amazing video and my entry for Ragen Chastain’s Amazing New Project.

)

Jeanette

PS: We. Will. Win.

These bronze greeters are always ready to welcome any river guests arriving to pay this river town a visit. So reminiscent of days gone by when the water provided the necessary transportation that met a more utilitarian need. The river was and is a busy avenue!! These are the days I wish I could “bottle” and pull out in the short, gray, frigid days of January where the dominant color is white/gray and coats, scarves, mittens and boots line the entry way!!! But enough of that and back to the beauty of the day! We spent some time just sitting and taking in the calm serenity of the surroundings…….a few joggers going by…..but, for the most part…..’quiet’ pervaded.And so we left this picture perfect setting to work on our “to do” list…..

Ron released a statement today saying, “My sister Jennifer … brings an exceptional dedication to her job, her family, and her community, and has been a role model of mine for many, many years.”  He said he’s “extremely proud” of his sister.

Jennifer Livingston’s address of a viewer’s email, criticizing her weight, went viral almost immediately. She took issue with the man – later identified at Kenneth W. Krause – for saying that because she was obese she was not a good role model for children, especially girls. Jennifer is a mother of three girls.

Here’s a link to the original story.

CBS 2’s Marissa Bailey reports Jennifer Livingston, the morning anchor at WKBT in La Crosse, has become a symbol of strength, after using the airwaves to respond to a viewer who criticized her weight.

In an email to Livingston, viewer Kenneth Krause attacked her appearance, saying, “Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain.”

Livingston spent 4 minutes and 19 seconds of Tuesday morning’s newscast reacting to the letter.

[worldnow id=7798298 width=385 height=288 type=video]

“The truth is: I am overweight. You could call me fat; and, yes, even obese on a doctor’s chart,” Livingston said, adding that she was taking a stance against bullying.

Since then, her story has gone national.

“I was happy that she was able to stand up for herself,” said John Turton, of San Antonio.

Kathleen Stanton said she felt like crying when she saw Livingston’s story.

“Because I put on 40 pounds in the past three years, because of medication, and it’s awful. It’s an awful feeling,” Stanton said.

Dr. Sheila Dowd, a clinical psychologist at Rush University Medical Center, said the overwhelming response to Livingston’s reaction is part of recognizing flaws in ourselves.

“I think them coming out has cued everybody into feeling like they’re imperfect in some way, and maybe I can’t be any different, and I’m going to support this woman who came out,” Dowd said.

In the end, it was Livingston – with a poignant and powerful message – who got the last word.

“The cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many,” she said.

Social media has lit up since Livingston’s public reaction, with some supporting Livingston and some defending Krause’s opinion.

Krause himself has since released a statement defending his email.

“Given this country’s present epidemic of obesity and the many truly horrible diseases related thereto, and considering Jennifer Livingston’s fortuitous position in the community, I hope she will finally take advantage of a rare and golden opportunity to influence the health and psychological well-being of Coulee Region children by transforming herself for all of her viewers to see over the next year,” he wrote. “To that end, I would be absolutely pleased to offer Jennifer any advice or support she would be willing to accept.”

Rather than suffer this fatuous fool’s remarks in silence, Livingston took to the airwaves in a four-minute tour de force that put her antagonist in his place. You can watch the full video of her response here. (Note: you’ll have to see a 15-second commercial before the video begins.)

Congratulations to Livingston for standing up to a peanut-brained bully. Her example can be an inspiration to all of us. And it’s fitting that this is National Bullying Prevention Month.

Sure, bullying might seem like a trivial thing to many of us. But how many of us remember being bullied when we were younger? How many of us had days when we dreaded going to school because our tormentors would be there? I’d venture to guess most American children were bullied at some point in their lives.

And in a world where you’re desperate to fit in, such hostility can be devastating. Suicide among young people now reaches the middle school level. And more ominously, so have school shootings. Is there anyone among us who doesn’t wince when we recall how insecure we were at that age?

Some say anti-bullying campaigns are nothing more than so-called political correctness. But as Livingston notes in the video, it’s a major issue for young people, and young people might not have the inner strength to shake off hateful comments. Livingston tells them they can be strong. She urges them to learn from her experience that “the cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many.”

So come on, folks. Watch the video. It’s well worth 4 minutes and 20 seconds of your time. Then take a stand in your own community. Be as strong as Jennifer Livingston. Tell the would-be bullies that such behavior won’t be tolerated.

If it prevents one — just one — teen suicide or school violence event, it’s worth it.

Jennifer Livingston, a morning anchor with WKBT-TV in La Crosse, Wisconsin, brilliantly articulated her self-worth and took a stand against bullying when responding to a viewer’s criticism about her appearance. The viewer assumed that Jennifer has led an unhealthy lifestyle. Although, Jennifer is not model thin; she is a beautiful, robust and bountiful woman. As you will see in the video, she gracefully and elegantly addressed the criticism and the bully.

Video Link (embed has been disabled so you will need to go directly to You Tube)

Related articles

• Anchor responds to attack on her weight (wptv.com)
• TV Anchor Responds to Viewer Email Criticizing Her Weight (wkrg.com)
• VIDEO: TV anchor blasts viewer who criticizes her weight (thestar.com)
• News Anchor Bullied About Weight, Addresses Harsh Email On Air (fox4kc.com)
• New Anchor Called Fat, Goes OFF on Bullying in Awesome TV Tirade (thehollywoodgossip.com)
• The Evening Post: Jennifer Livingston WKBT-TV (geekalabama.com)
• Anchor: Viewer bashing weight a ‘bully’ (wivb.com)
• Jennifer Livingston, TV Anchor, Responds To Viewer’s Attack On Her Weight (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)
• Overweight TV anchor rebuffs ‘bully’ on air (cbc.ca)
• Overweight Anchor Addresses Email Bully (fox8.com)

New home building, Home Remodeling – confidence is rising

According to the National Association of Home Builders, the new-home market was up in September marking 5 straight months of positive growth. Of course, there’s always a caveat with any good news for the home market.

According to Builderonline.com, confidence among builders has definitely improved but many remain cautious. The Chief Economist from the NAHB, David Crowe, sounds a little more even-keeled with the news. In a news release, he says, “”Against the improving demand for new homes, concerns are now rising about the lack of building lots in certain markets and the rising cost of building materials. Given the fragile nature of the housing and economic recovery, these are significant red flags.”

Despite the red flags, confidence from home builders is still there. “Builders across the country are expressing a more positive outlook on current sales conditions, future sales prospects and the amount of consumer traffic they are seeing through model homes than they have in more than five years,” Crowe said.

What about home remodeling? The National Association of the Remodeling Industry believes the climate this year is certainly better than last.

From the NARI website: “There are clear indications that some of our NARI members believe that they have weathered the storm, and expect consumer confidence to return in a more consistent pace going forward,” says Kevin Anundson, CR, CKBR, NARI National Secretary and president of Owner Assisted Remodeling based in Elm Grove, Wis.

NARI also says they are hearing from remodelers who say say consumer confidence has a different tone this time around. “People are aware that that their home values may not be as high as they once were, yet that only affects those that are forced to sell,” Anundson says. “Many homeowners have made the decision to remain in their home and are choosing to make improvements and increase their comfort and long-term living accommodations. This thought process allows them to be much less concerned about returns on investment and resale values.”

October is National Bullying Prevention month, and I can’t tell you how glad I am that Jennifer has helped bring bullying about weight to the forefront.  It seems to me that much of the discourse on bullying has been dominated by discussions of race or gender or sexual preference.  It also seems to me that in many of the discussions about bullying, weight has been left right out of the equation.  So I’m thrilled that weight is coming into the discussion and that “concern trolling” is being called out as a form of bullying.

I admire Jennifer so much for standing up to bullies in such a public way.  She’s not only standing up in public, but she’s standing up at work.  And working in television news is no picnic.  I know she worked very hard to get that coveted morning anchor spot.  She undoubtedly won that spot over a lot of other competitors.  A lot of those competitors were probably thinner and more closely mirrored current societal standards of appearance for a television anchor.  Just doing her job every day in such a public and competitive sphere is pretty darn brave.  To risk all she worked for, to risk the wrath of television viewers and pundits alike, for ‘coming out’ as a fat person, takes amazing strength.  And as a Midwestern girl, raised in Wisconsin, I can tell you that calling attention to herself in this way, putting herself forward like this in the town of La Crosse, WI flies in the face of a lot of our “nice girl” training.  It takes unbelievable courage.

As a fellow producer, I also want to call out the producers at WKBT for having the guts to put this on TV.  I’m talking about morning show producer Kelli Hoff andnews director Anne Paape as well as the rest of the producing team.  News at the local level is an extremely competitive business.  Allowing Jennifer to take that much airtime to share an extremely controversial and polarizing viewpoint takes serious guts.  That producer’s job is on the line for this.  It was a big risk, but luckily the response seems to be largely positive.

I am so glad that a light is being shined on this bullying business.  Because I think it’s time that we understood the real costs associated with it.  There’s the cost to kids concentration levels and education.  Can somebody who’s being tortured every day really focus on school?  Can they get the grades?  Can they do what they need to do to compete for those rapidly dwindling and extremely valuable spots at their favorite college?  Will they even survive school?  Or will they take their own precious lives and thus deprive the world of themselves?  And if they survive school, will they survive intact?  Or will they commit suicide a little bit every day by being smaller, being less than, blending in, and not being noticed?  Will these kids be what they were meant to be?  Will they dare?  Or will they let that part of themselves that is responsible for seeing that torture never happens again, that they are never hurt that way again, take charge?

That is what is so very exciting to me about what I saw morning anchor Jennifer Livingston do on television  yesterday.  She wasn’t just standing up to bullies that are after her now.  She was standing up to every bully she’s ever faced.  She was standing up to that part of her that told her that she had a good thing going with her anchor job and she shouldn’t blow it.  She was standing up to the part of her that told her she should be quiet and blend in.  She was standing up to the part of her that said she should be lesser so as to present a smaller target.

I want to thank both Jennifer and WKBT for standing up not only to the bullies they face now in the public and the board room but also to all the bullies they have faced their entire lives.  Your courage is an inspiration.

Sincerely,

Jeanette DePatie

AKA The Fat Chick

Click Below To Listen

Farewell, Cathy and Scott, for now, and thank you for sharing your family, your home, your friends, your city and your time with us. We love you and will never forget this great holiday!

In the email he stated that Livingston was not providing “a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular, ” by appearing on television despite being overweight.

Jennifer’s husband is also an anchor for the station and he posted the email on the station’s Facebook page.  The response was overwhelming.

Here is Jennifer Livingston on air response.

The bad part about my not having a full-time job right now is that I don’t have a full-time job.

I wasn’t able to land a classroom teaching position in New York City this fall, after finishing my grad school certification in the spring, and am hoping to at least start substitute teaching soon (subbing in New York City ought to at least give me lots of blog material).

So for now I’m doing freelance writing, my environmental blog stories and press releases, that kind of thing.

However, the good part of not having a full-time job is that, at age 37, I’ve gotten myself into the best shape of my life. I’ve mentioned a few times on here that I began to take running seriously in the past year or so, and have really upped my training in the past two months.

When I got to being able to run four miles at a time, three days a week, I knew it was time to enter a 10k (6.2 mile) race. (I’m now up to five miles per run, which excites me and surprises me all at once. Never knew I could do it).

And so I have taken the plunge, entering the Long Island Run for the Warriors 10k in Babylon, N.Y. on Oct. 20.

Which is where you, my wonderful readers, come in. I’m trying to raise money for the charity “Hope for the Warriors,” which is a Wounded Warriors-type organization that helps care for veterans returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Hope for the Warriors helps families and veterans physically, emotionally, psychologically and financially, and by all accounts seems to be a first-class organization.

I hate to ask people for money, because I know times are tight for a lot of us. But I strongly believe in the mission of Hope for the Warriors, as they try to do right by men and women who have experienced such horrors.

Here’s a link to my donation page; if you can spare even a few dollars, I would appreciate it very, very much.
Thanks. And I guarantee I’ll be thinking of all of you on the morning of Oct. 20 during the race, along with muttering, “Why the heck won’t my feet move anymore?”

**This was a video that knocked my socks off Tuesday night. A woman named Jennifer Livingston, anchor at a TV station in La Crosse, Wisc., received a pretty rude email about her appearance from a viewer recently. So Tuesday, Livingston responded, in a heartfelt, beautiful way.
If even five girls who are self-conscious about their weight watch this video and are inspired, Livingston’s terrific speech will be worth it.

**Finally, did you see this bizarre story about Danny Bonaduce? Seems the old child star from the 70s-turned-crazy-man-in-the-21st-century was at a personal appearance in Seattle the other day, where he works as a radio DJ, and a fan came up and asked if she could kiss him.

As all men do in this situation, Danny said yes, and the woman wrapped her arms around his neck and chomped down on his cheek, leaving a pretty nasty-looking mark.

“They were tiny little Chucky teeth. Man, they just gnawed like piranhas,” Bonaduce said.

The woman was apparently drugged out of her mind on bath salts.
Not that you have to be on drugs to want to injure Bonaduce, of course.

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – TV can be a superficial business.

Viewers sometimes email to let you know what they don’t like about your appearance.

“The truth is, I am overweight, but to the person who wrote me that letter: Do you think I don’t know that,” asks Jennifer Livingston, an anchorwoman at WCCO’s sister station in La Crosse, WKBT.

Livingston believes an attack on her weight went too far.

Over the weekend, people from around the world started commenting about an email that was posted to Facebook by Livingston’s husband, the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. anchor for WKBT.

“What happened next has been truly inspiring,” Livingston says. “Hundreds and hundreds of people took time out of their day to not only make me feel better, but to take a stand that attacks like this are not OK.”

The email not only criticized Livingston for her size, but told her she wasn’t a suitable example for young girls. It asked Livingston to reconsider her responsibility as a local public personality and to present and promote a healthy lifestyle. She addressed that in a new interview Tuesday.

“What got to me was that he said I was a bad role model for young girls and I have three young girls,” Livingston said.

Livingston directly responded to the viewer.

“You know nothing about me then what you see on the outside, and I am more than a number on the scale,” she said.

Livingston has a message for all parents to help stop bullying at home.

“I hope people have the conversation with their kids to not be so critical,” she said.

Besides the thousands of viewer comments praising Livingston for taking a stand, Ellen also tweeted about her, saying: “What a powerful message against bullying.@News8Jennifer, I would love to meet you in person.”

Now, the emailer also responded Tuesday, saying:

“Given this country’s present epidemic of obesity and the many truly horrible diseases related thereto, and considering Jennifer Livingston’s fortuitous position in the community, I hope she will finally take advantage of a rare and golden opportunity to influence the health and psychological well-being of Coulee Region children by transforming herself for all of her viewers to see over the next year, and, to that end, I would be absolutely pleased to offer Jennifer any advice or support she would be willing to accept.”

LA CROSSE, Wis. — A television anchorwoman in western Wisconsin says a man who wrote her an email criticizing her weight is a bully.

Jennifer Livingston responded to the email Tuesday morning during a four-minute segment on WKBT-TV in La Crosse.

“You don’t know me,” Livingston said to the letter-writer. “You are not a friend of mine. You are not a part of my family, and you have admitted you don’t watch this show. You know nothing about me but what you see on the outside, and I am much more than a number on a scale.”

Livingston told young viewers not to allow bullies to define their self-worth.

Livingston didn’t identify the man, who wrote that he was surprised to see her physical condition hadn’t improved for years.

“It’s unusual that I see your morning show, but I did so for a very short time today,” the viewer had written. “I was surprised indeed to witness that your physical condition hasn’t improved for many years.

“Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls in particular.”

In her editorial, Livingston urged children who get picked on not to let bullies define them.

Find the National Post on Facebook

[np-related /]

A television anchorwoman in western Wisconsin says a man who wrote her an email criticizing her weight is a bully.

Jennifer Livingston responded to the email Tuesday morning during a 4-minute segment on WKBT-TV in La Crosse. She’s telling young viewers not to allow bullies to define their self-worth.

Livingston didn’t identify the man, who wrote that he was surprised to see her physical condition hadn’t improved for years. He wrote that he hopes she doesn’t consider herself a suitable example for young people, especially girls.

Livingston says she thought nothing of the email. But she’s angry that some children may not know to do the same when they’re criticized, or worse, by bullies.

She’s urging children who get picked on not to let bullies define them.

Related articles

• Wis. anchor: Viewer criticizing her weight ‘bully’ (mysanantonio.com)
• Jennifer Livingston, TV Anchor, Responds To Viewer’s Attack On Her Weight (VIDEO) (huffingtonpost.com)

Her response was smart and cutting, telling the man who wrote the email that October is National Anti-Bullying Month and, “If you are at home and talking about the fat news lady, guess what? Your children are probably going to go to school and call someone fat.”

See her full response below:

The morning anchor on WKBT TV in LaCrosse, Wisconsin had a powerful editorial on the local TV news this morning, based on an e-mail she received from a viewer. The viewer suggested that she is setting a bad example. Why? Because she is overweight.

Wow. How weird that someone feels that he has to suggest to a local TV anchor that she is a bad example simply because she is overweight.

Now, I know that obesity is a national health problem. But I also know that the reasons that an individual person is the size that he or she is has to do with lots of factors—genetics, lifestyle, stress, availability of particular kinds of calories, health condition, etc., etc.

It seems the height of arrogance for a viewer to e-mail an anchor with a message that basically says: “You’re fat, that’s a bad example, I’m disappointed in you.” What ripe bull.

One wonders whether a rotund TV male personality would be so soundly subjected to this kind of “helpful” critique. There is an odd tendency in this culture for both men and women to treat public women’s bodies as if they were a public park—something that’s open to all, something that needs to be controlled and beautified for the benefit of all.

But a body is personal—next to the mind or soul, the most intimate and personal thing that each of us owns. Yes, if you’re a performer you put that body out there—and yes others will see and react to it.

But, to snidely suggest to an overweight TV anchor that she is setting a “bad example” just because she exists in a plus size? Beyond bad form—it is a dangerous type of arrogance that does, in my opinion, rise to the level of bullying.

I became aware of the video due to a local news anchor at Channel 9 in Cedar Rapids posting it to her Facebook page. Apparently there have been many supportive message sent to this news anchor.

While that’s good, then again, the video has since been posted to YouTube. And the YouTube community is responding with the kind of kindness and sensitivity that the internet is famous for. Here are a few comments it has collected:

• I guess doctors are bullies too when they tell their patients that they’re overweight (for their own health).

• That letter is in no way whatsoever bullying. That letter is constructive criticism. Please dont connect bullying with constructive criticism. As a person on a televised news show it is an absolute slap in the face to 1000s of children who everyday FEAR walking into a school building due to physical, mental, or cyber bullying. As a “journalist” you and WKBT as a whole should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves.

• after watching this, i have still come to the conclusion that you are still fat.

• 100% sure every doctor would tell her, that she is over weight and thats unhealthy. And nobody is just fat by genetics. That’s just wrong.

Geez, the editorial is in response to an insensitive, narrow-minded e-mail. Get a grip, people. You don’t know why this anchor weighs what she weighs, and honestly, that’s none of your damn business. She should be able to pursue a public career and not be molested by this kind of narrow-minded, bigoted commentary.

And no, I’m not endorsing “fat” or saying overweight is “good.” I’m just saying that size does not disqualify a newswoman from being seen. And too many of you YouTube boobs don’t seem to see that there is a difference between a well understood rule of health (I am personally better off if I weigh less) and an uncalled for, bullying attack on this individual woman.

And no, her doctor, in the privacy of a consult with her, would not be out of bounds telling her that she needs to lose weight. But you, YouTube boobs, are not doctors in a private consult with her, and you don’t seem to realize that’s what’s OK for a healthcare expert to discuss with an individual patient is not the same thing that’s OK for your to blurt out in public.

Jeesh. Wash your mouths out with soap and hang your heads in shame. I despair, sometimes, for the future of my species when open communication so often reveals our basest, worst instincts.

PHOTOS SHOW A DEER AT THE BLUFF, TODAY’S VIEW OF THE LA CROSSE COLOURS, SIMILAR VIEW 9 DAYS AGO (to see colour difference) SCOTT AND ALAN (artists at work) AND THE FINISHED PRODUCT (exposure a problem, but I think you’ll get the general idea!)

PHOTOS SHOW EMERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, OKTOBERFEST TAPPING OF THE GOLDEN KEG AND BIKE RIDE THROUGH THE MARSH.

a giant cow float

herded by the parade crowd

headed for the fest

The Smart Faucet will do everything for you except wash your hands and face and brush your teeth

Have you considered using faucets you don’t need to touch? Manufacturers are starting to make more of these, in case you haven’t noticed. You use them quite regularly in the public bathroom at a sporting event or at a restaurant or at the airport. But, in the home, the idea never really took off.

They aren’t actually new. The electronic faucet was actually first developed in the 1950’s and started gaining some attention in the 1980’s. But, they never penetrated the home market for several reasons…the first being that you wouldn’t be able to control the temperature. That has changed with technology.

We found a newly introduced MotionSense Moen faucet that was unveiled at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Chicago. It allows temperature change and, apparently, understands if you are using the faucet to wash your hands or to get a cup of water. It also allows for handle use. Other companies that are getting into the push for electronic faucets in the home include Grohe, Muirsis, Dornbracht, American Standard, and KWC. The Swiss company has a faucet that uses a remote control to select water temperature as well as hard-wired unit directly on the faucet.

And, then there’s the Smart Faucet from iHouse. This contraption has a camera that will recognize you and other family members so it remembers “favorite” temperature settings. It will also change colors for you to enhance your hand-washing-tooth-brushing experience. And, it will also allow access to email on the touchscreen as well as calendar and outside temperature. No price yet on this.