Halls of Shrewd'm / An Open Letter
No. of Recommendations: 10
William P (Liam) Brown
Group President, United States and Canada
Marriott International, Inc
7750 Wisconsin Ave
Bethesda, MD
April 23, 2024
Dear Mr Brown:
Last week, I checked into the “Fairfield Inns and Suites Philadelphia Valley Forge/Great Valley” in Berwyn PA. Sitting prominently at the check-in counter was a stack of Epoch Times (either for sale or complimentary; I didn’t ask). A photo is attached.
My objection to this publication should be self-evident, but I’ll nonetheless quote the independent Media Bias/Fact Check: “Overall, we rate The Epoch Times Right Biased and Questionable based on the publication of pseudoscience and the promotion of propaganda and conspiracy theories, as well as numerous failed fact checks.”
Given the enormous amounts of time and money spent to make the Marriott family of business hotels as anodyne as possible, I have to assume that this experience was the result of an outlying manager, or even a rogue desk clerk…and, that you are well aware at how rapidly poisonous this polarizing can be to a brand. For example, I’ve defaulted to Marriott for years – I’m something called “Platinum Elite,” apparently – but it would be pretty straightforward for me to move to IHG or Hilton and start building up my free nights and upgrades there instead.
If you want to display the NYT, the WSJ, or USA Today, that’s one thing. But please take this generation’s Völkischer Beobachter off the counter.
I’d like a reply at your convenience, please. I (and my family) have more trips coming up.
Sincerely,
No. of Recommendations: 5
If you want to display the NYT, the WSJ, or USA Today, that’s one thing. But please take this generation’s Völkischer Beobachter off the counter.
I’d like a reply at your convenience, please. I (and my family) have more trips coming up. - sutton
-------------------
Dear Mr Sutton, we are sorry you are so thin skinned. All of the other quests either take a copy of Epoch or don't but either way don't get triggered the way you have. We cannot guarantee that you won't see other things on our property that may upset you delicate sensibilites and suggest that you consider alternate arrangements for your future travels.
Signed,
most normal people.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Dear Mr Sutton, we are sorry you are so thin skinned. All of the other quests either take a copy of Epoch or don't but either way don't get triggered the way you have. We cannot guarantee that you won't see other things on our property that may upset you delicate sensibilites and suggest that you consider alternate arrangements for your future travels.
Signed,
PS: Please enjoy the new Confederate and/or Gadsden flags on the walls of our continental breakfast dining room.
No. of Recommendations: 6
Dear Mr Sutton, we are sorry you are so thin skinned. All of the other quests either take a copy of Epoch or don't but either way don't get triggered the way you have. We cannot guarantee that you won't see other things on our property that may upset you delicate sensibilites and suggest that you consider alternate arrangements for your future travels.
Signed,
most normal people.
And this exemplifies why I've stopped posting on these discussion boards.
No. of Recommendations: 1
And this exemplifies why I've stopped posting on these discussion boards.
Sheila – you and I have bantered enough over the years on this and other boards, you even patiently taught me the correct spelling of your handle, and you should know by now that censorship is one of my hot buttons.
And when that element was expressed by the OP, I felt compelled to point it out and express disapproval. So I did.
That said, I admit, that almost as soon as I sent it, I regretted the snarky nature of my reply. If there was an edit facility, I would have tweaked my reply to express opposition to censorship more directly and leaving out any snark. Apologies to sutton.
No. of Recommendations: 2
Well, heck
Here I was, weighing the posting of an appropriate quotation, when I'm suddenly defanged by an apology.
Apology accepted.
Since I already had my Quotation file opened, though, here's a recent one from Gen. Mark Milley that I liked (1):
“Apologies are demonstrations of strength,” Milley told me. “There’s a whole concept of redemption in Western philosophy. It’s part and parcel of our philosophy, the Western religious tradition—the idea that human beings are fallible, that we sin and that we make mistakes and that when you do so you own the mistake, you admit it, and then you learn from that mistake and take corrective action and move on.” Moving on
https://youtu.be/-QJrHOkm3_Y--sutton
(1) The Patriot: How General Mark Milley protected the Constitution from Donald Trump
Jeffrey Goldberg The Atlantic Nov 2023
No. of Recommendations: 2
you own the mistake
check
you admit it
check
then you learn from that mistake and take corrective action
Not seeing any evidence of that.
No. of Recommendations: 8
Dear (sutton):
Your letter to Liam Brown has been referred to me for a response.
We want to sincerely apologize about any confusion regarding the Epoch Times being present at the front desk location.
The hotel doesn't order newspapers or even has a budget for it.
It was brought to my attention that an outside person brought the newspapers to the hotel and dropped them off.
This has been addressed with all front desk personnel to make sure no items are being accepted and put in view without the approval of management.
We appreciate all the business you provide Marriott and we can only imagine how disappointed you felt seeing this newspaper in view and we want to sincerely apologize for the confusion, and we will use this as a method of training for all employees on our staff.
Thank you for choosing the Fairfield Inn & Suites during your travels.
Yours in Hospitality,
--sutton
No. of Recommendations: 5
Good on you for expressing your distaste. That is free speech, and those wanting tolerance are in a sense conforming to repression.
The world is becoming filled with propaganda and lies, I'm glad there are still some people as yourself trying to call it out - even if a small voice in a barrage of ongoing flooding. I'm glad they answered you and clarified that someone pushing the info had brought it in themselves.
Thank you for speaking your mind freely and not being repressed like so many in our country are increasingly becoming.
No. of Recommendations: 1
I seen the Epoch Times for the very 1st time last year, at a hotel in NYC area ( drawing a blank on the name, but it wasn't a Hilton ). I scanned it front to back, and found absolutely zero worthwhile content. It felt like all of the articles were written by MAGA, or CPAC. I would use it to wrap up fish guts and carcass, but that's about all it was good for to me.
No. of Recommendations: 2
I would use it to wrap up fish guts and carcass, but that's about all it was good for to me.
Since newspapers are no longer delivered, we find the free Epoch times from the market useful for lining the bottom of our organic waste bin.
No. of Recommendations: 4
you should know by now that censorship is one of my hot buttons.
And that's fine. Censorship is indeed something to be concerned about.
But I don't see any risk of censorship here. This was a customer expressing disapproval of something seen in the hotel lobby. The OP has no ability, no authority, to censor. They are simply an ordinary customer expressing their disapproval and requesting a change. The hotel is completely free to decline to make any changes.
If the hotel isn't being forced to make a change, there is no censorship.
--Peter
No. of Recommendations: 5
"And this exemplifies why I've stopped posting on these discussion boards."
I'm sorry to see this sheila, I always enjoy reading your posts.
It's true that there are a handful of horrendous people posting here, but I've found that if you can ignore them, the site is much more enjoyable!
All the best!
No. of Recommendations: 2
sutton: "If you want to display the NYT, the WSJ, or USA Today, that’s one thing. But please take this generation’s Völkischer Beobachter off the counter."
Bravo!
This just in...
"Prosecutors have filed criminal charges against the CFO of the media company that operates The Epoch Times for $67 million in international money laundering from 2020 to the present."
"The scheme included buying pre-paid debit cards issued for unemployment benefits then using those cards to open bank accounts with stolen identities or to buy online products and subscriptions from Epoch Times, wildly boosting its revenues from nearly nothing to tens of millions of dollars."
When will it register with these useful idiots who consume "information" from all of these fringe "media outlets" that they are part of a network of criminals raising money selling lies and conspiracies to the gullible while laundering money from nefarious sources and corrupting the entire world's dialogue about anything that matters? (I'm guessing never!)
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/chief-financi...
