Blogcritics Author: Paotie

Idiocy in the Blogosphere

Paotie — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 14:32:25 EDT

Why do people post negative comments on other's blogs? Read an interesting perspective about people who post negative comments and bloggers who publish trashlogs.
I got an email from a friend the other night asking me what I thought of a blog that asked the question of why people make negative comments on other people’s blogs. In reading the article, I came away with the impression that many bloggers despise the negative comments made by people who criticize a point, argument, perspective, poems,...

Donovan McNabb: Shut Up or Get the Hell Out

Paotie — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 10:09:51 EDT

Read an interesting perspective about the McNabb controversy from the perspective of a deaf man - who has worked "extra" to get through life.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb is a black quarterback. According to him, he is first a black quarterback and secondly a quarterback for the Eagles. Any and all success he’s experienced has been because he’s black, too.McNabb – who’s been struggling this season after major knee surgery nearly ten months ago...

Satire: Drugs and Religion - A Reflection

Paotie — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 18:58:15 EDT

A look at a religion and drugs from the perspective of a deaf man obsessed with multi-colored neon signs of Jesus.
This morning -- like most mornings -- I found myself scanning the Internet for my holy grail, a multi-colored neon Jesus sign. I've seen them everywhere here in Colorado Springs and decided I wanted to get one. When I find one, it'll be hanging where it belongs in my garage: just above the Corona and below the Playboy Bunny signs already hanging on...

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

Christianity and Atheism: A Conversation

Paotie — Mon, 9 Jul 2007 22:08:16 EDT

I grew up in a religious family. As a child, my mother dragged me to faith healers who showed up once a month in Albuquerque and tried to “cure” my deafness. The faith healers themselves, while varied in the way they delivered their healing sessions, almost always shared the same routine. They would prop me up on stage in front of the church, and begin yelling something to the effect that I had somehow been wronged. By whom exactly was never answered, though I once asked a pastor, “If God made me deaf, why do we need faith healers to fix what God has done? That doesn’t make sense.” (My pastor immediately started praying, though I never got an answer).When I moved to Colorado Springs some time ago, the very first thing I noticed were the number of multi-colored neon signs with the word JESUS prominently displayed on the side of buildings throughout the city. Almost all were multi-colored, although a few were in one or two colors only. As an atheist, I was curious about the signs and why there were so many.One day not long ago, I had an interesting conversation with a waitress at a local restaurant. She was a tall, blonde girl who looked anorexic and spoke with a quick cadence – something like you’d hear from an auctioneer. I had told her I was deaf after I misunderstood something she had asked (I read lips – I wasn’t looking at her when she asked me what I wanted to drink).She took my order, and I ate my food. When it came time for the check, she asked if I read lips (again), and I nodded. With intensely blue eyes staring down at me, she asked, “Do you believe in Jesus?” “Sure. I saw JESUS last night.” “What kind of relationship do you have with Jesus?” “A relationship?” I asked back. “I think you misunderstood me. I said I saw JESUS last night.”She looked confused and shrugged her bony shoulders. “Are you happy in your life?” “Sure.” “Is there something Jesus can do for you through prayer?”Of course I knew who she was talking to, but I decided to play along anyway. I confess that I often get the same question from Christians, who always seem to believe that somebody somewhere always needs saving – especially a deaf boy like me.I smiled innocently at her, pretending to seriously consider her question. I shrugged and said, “Win the lottery?”She laughed, and spent a minute or so explaining to me that God/Jesus is not about money, but about happiness. Undeterred, she pressed on again, “When did you last talk to Jesus?” “I’m deaf. I don’t know that Jesus knows sign language, and I’ve never gotten an email from God, you know?” She seemed a little surprised – at least her eyes widened enough for me to notice that her blue eyes were really blue contacts. Her dark eyebrows, which I had just noticed, gave away the fact that someone had done a poor job of bleaching her hair because it was a yellowish hue that seemed unnatural. “But you said you saw Jesus, right?”I nodded. “So then that means you must’ve talked to him. Where did you see Jesus, then?”I paused for a second. Not wanting her to discover my intentions, I played along.Sipping a half-empty glass of tea, I told her, “I dunno. Somewhere near the south part of town, I guess.” “What was Jesus doing?” I suddenly felt like a criminal defendant on the stand, being cross-examined by a prosecutor set to achieve a high conviction rate. Her tone had changed considerably – or at least her body language told me as much. “JESUS was flashing people.”Instantly, her mouth widened, revealing near perfect teeth. I wondered if she’d had her teeth cosmetically done, but I wasn’t able to hold that thought long because she looked offended. Very offended, as if I’d mortally wounded her soul. “Excuse me? What? He was doing what?” “Flashing people. I think JESUS is for gays, too.”Her body posture changed again, though I felt she was becoming frustrated with me. Feeling a little guilty, I decided to explain. “Well, you know how the colors of the rainbow are ‘code’ for gays and lesbians, right?”She nodded slowly and then leaned forward and put her hands on the table. Up to that point, she’d kept her arms crossed, and obviously discussing Jesus and gays in the same sentence seemed to draw her forth towards me, literally and figuratively. “JESUS was covered in all the colors of the rainbow. There’s no mistaking it – JESUS is for gays and lesbians. I don’t know. Hell, I think the whole JESUS thing is gay, anyway.” “You can’t be serious! Jesus is NOT gay! That’s impossible! The Bible says sodomy is a sin! I think you’re mistaken. Seriously.”I nodded again. “I don’t know – all I know is what I saw. Seeing is believing, isn’t it?” “Yes, but … tell me: what gave you the idea Jesus was gay besides colors?” “The JESUS did. I swear. If you had seen JESUS, then you’d know what I mean.” “No. Jesus most certainly did not give you that idea. You’re mistaken.” “JESUS had gas, too. Quite a bit, in fact. I guess you could even say JESUS was quite excited by all the gas. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I dunno.”She shook her head in disbelief. An awkward moment of silence passed between us. Trying a different tack, she asked, “Do you have a friend named Hez-SHUE?” “Huh?”“Maybe you’ve got Jesus mixed with Hez-SHUE?” “What? He’s got shoes? Who’s got shoes?” “You know, the Spanish way of saying ‘Jesus’ is ‘Hez-SHUE?’” “I have no idea what you’re trying to say. Who’s shoes are you talking about?”Flustered now, she stood straight up and fumbled through her little black order book, and found my ticket receipt. “Here. I will pray for you.” “You don’t have to pay for me. Thanks, though.” “No, no. I said I will pray for you.” “Oh, I see. No, that’s okay but thank you.” I slid out from the red vinyl seat and stood up. Facing her, I noticed for the first time that she was also biting her lip – a nervous habit, maybe. “I’m atheist,” I said, smiling at her. “I stopped believing in religion a long time ago.” “Bu- … what? Wait a minute!” Her mouth stopped moving. Her facial muscles tightened as her lips closed rather tightly. Her jaw muscles, I could see, were being flexed, and with a final shrug of her bony shoulders, she simply walked away without saying a word.It’s too bad, really, because I wanted to ask her where I could get one of those multi-colored JESUS neon signs. I think it’d look pretty good hanging above my Playboy and Coors Light neon signs hanging in the garage of my house. At night, my friends and I sometimes sit in the garage, drinking beer. I use the signs as a source of light so I can read their lips as we talk.I don’t know. I think I just might be in heaven here in Colorado Springs.

Paotie is Paotie.

The Uneducating of America

Paotie — Mon, 2 Jul 2007 14:36:07 EDT

While most Americans confess that they do not like the educational system in the US, and an infinite supply of solutions continually are offered by politicians and educators alike, there remains a small group of people that is often overlooked (more on that shortly). The political ramifications of this group may well further define a number of other political issues, ranging from English as an “official” language to the best possible way to facilitate a child’s education.First, many Americans seem to feel English is the only language that ought to be spoken, taught and utilized in every facet of Americans’ lives. Others disagree and state that the United States has a long history of embracing various cultures and even languages and is the basis for the existence of this country. One need not look further to the symbolic meaning of New York’s Ellis Island, as well as its long history of welcoming immigrants from all over the world.But, in the US, there still exists a governmental policy to continue teaching American children a foreign language as a first language. Schools have been funded through state and federal government programs. Additional schools that teach this foreign language have also popped up in various community colleges and universities across the nation. The results have been disastrous: a majority of the children taught this foreign language lack the appropriate reading and writing skills to function within the larger American society. High unemployment, suicide and drug abuse rates and other socially deviated behavioral patterns are consistent for this older members of this group as well. Even worse, attempts to restrict the educating of American children an inefficient first language has resulted in claims of “cultural genocide.”Welcome to the world of deaf people and American Sign Language (ASL). During the early part of the 20th century, many schools of deaf children initially demanded that no mechanical (or manual) signing systems were to be used, and instead, intensive focus on lip reading, writing and speaking skills were stressed – this is called an “oralist” approach. Conversely, by the 1970’s, many researchers of deaf and hard of hearing educational systems began touting ASL as a “native” language of deaf people and began demanding ASL only be taught in deaf residential schools. Interestingly, anthropologists and linguists alike debated the claim that ASL was a true language and challenged the basis for the existence of a “deaf culture” built around ASL on the premise that a culture cannot exist without a language, among other things.Today, many colleges and universities across the country are offering ASL classes as a foreign language elective. It has become widely accepted by many in deaf communities that ASL is a legitimate language – even going so far as to claim that ASL is the only language deaf people ought to use. Evidence of the impact of the political controversies surrounding ASL and “deaf culture” can be found during the 1988 Gallaudet University protests which were initiated by ASL-militants who demanded that ASL be the only language taught on the campus.In deaf communities across the country, there are several variations of signing systems. Signed Exact English (SEE), for example, mimics English generally and allows people to utilize many aspects of English as it is spoken and written. ASL on the other hand, does not, and instead focuses on picture storytelling - ASL it should be noted, has no written form comparable to English. Regardless, the variations with respect to the number of signing systems used varies depending on geographical location and the homophily of deaf people. Moreover, the justification used for the existence of deaf residential schools throughout the United States has historically been this: too few public schools have lacked the necessary resources for educating deaf children, and instead many were shuttled to deaf residential schools. Many hearing parents, lacking a support system -- whether through governmental or non-profit organizations -- sent their children to these schools because they were overwhelmed with the many aspects that are involved with educating deaf children. Conversely, many hearing parents choose not to send their deaf children to deaf residential schools after reports of poor educational standards and rampant sexual abuse of deaf children became public news. Today, many deaf residential schools are facing closure for these (and other) reasons.For years, the primary place deaf children learned ASL was through deaf residential schools, and unfortunately, the dogma attached to using only ASL facilitated poor reading and writing skills for many deaf children. In fact, the reason many deaf people who were taught ASL as a first language struggle to learn other languages, may be directly related to ASL itself as well as the deaf educational system in the United States. In Europe, for example, deaf people there learn multiple languages, but Americans whose first language is ASL seemingly don’t learn English at sufficient levels to allow them to understand the larger world in general, let alone multiple languages. (In fact, Gallaudet University, the nation’s primary educational institution for the deaf has suffered from accreditation controversies, and recently, the Washington Post published a report that the school was placed on accreditation probation. In 1988, after the campus erupted in student protests, published reports indicated a significant number of deaf graduate students were illiterate and yet were allowed to continue teaching undergraduate courses.)Making matters worse is the fact that there remain divisions regarding who exactly is considered deaf in the US. People taught ASL as a first language are generally referred to as “culturally deaf.” These people are taught that their deafness is not a disability, and reject any notion that they need to accommodate the larger, hearing world, which creates a self-defeating cycle evident to all. Not only that, but the number of these people on Social Security Disability benefits creates the appearance of hypocrisy by both educators of the deaf and “culturally” deaf people themselves. In fact, many culturally deaf people have adopted the claim that medical interventions, such as cochlear implants, are a form of “cultural genocide,” even though the implants themselves are no different than hearing aids – which many culturally deaf people use, anyway.Deaf people who learn English (in whatever forms) are shunned by culturally deaf people and called, “hard of hearing” as an insult. The premise for this categorization is simply based on the purported belief that these people “choose” to reject ASL, and thus, deaf culture. But more hypocrisy occurs regarding ASL and the culturally deaf when sign language interpreters are added into the equation.If one assumes ASL is a legitimate language, then there is only one real sign language in the US - ASL. A person who uses SEE, for example, uses transliterators and not interpreters. This is important because there exists a national 10-year-long shortage of interpreters throughout the country. Many college deaf students and public universities alike are finding it increasingly difficult to hire interpreters for the deaf, and yet little has been done to alleviate the shortage. In fact, national deaf and interpreter organizations have demanded (and received) legislative mandates requiring all sign language interpreters to be certified/and or licensed. In New Mexico recently, the state’s biggest interpreter organization made the claim that because “deaf” people could not file complaints adequately since they were unable to understand the process, and also because interpreters themselves don’t manage themselves, the need for state intervention was required to regulate the interpreters. But, in the face of the shortage in that state, more stringent requirements for certification/licensing, all parties agree, will make the existing shortage even worse. Few solutions have been offered.A majority of interpreter educational programs focus intensively on ASL classes for students. Increasingly, many students in these programs are questioning the validity of such intensive focus on ASL when evidence of less than 10% of all deaf people use ASL exclusively. In fact, increasingly, English is being integrated into ASL for many young, deaf children, which suggests that ASL is inefficient in more ways than can be stated here. Still, to become an interpreter has become exceedingly expensive and time-consuming for many people, and in the meantime, the shortage of interpreters continues to curtail efforts to educate deaf children in a manner that allows opportunities for independence from Social Security Disability rolls.Moreover, statistics reveal that 60-70% of all deaf people in the United States are late-deafened adults. These people have suffered traumatic hearing loss as an adult, which means they most likely learned English as a first language. Perhaps this is why groups like these have long been ignored in favor of the so-called culturally deaf, although this appears to be changing – especially with the Baby Boomer population expected to produce significantly higher numbers of people with hearing losses.The continued groupthink of many educators of the deaf and sign language interpreter educational programs has stunted many deaf children’s developmental capabilities for too many years. Ignorance remains a central issue with regard to who is deaf and who uses what signing system. Poverty, unemployment, drug abuse and high incidences of suicide, coupled with poor educational backgrounds have created an uneducated class of self-repressed Americans. These Americans were taught a foreign language, with little regard to the consequences of a poorly inefficient educational system and is self-evident for all to see.Whether you are for an “official” language of the US, or if you’re a proponent of diversity and multiple languages, the obvious problems with both arguments can be found in a small group of people in the United States. These people are taught by the government, raised by school administrators and taught to rely upon the government for welfare.Finally, given that 90% of all deaf children are born to hearing parents, there seems to be little reason to teach children a language foreign than the one their parents utilize – even if the parents become fluent in ASL. And, in spite of the fact that some deaf people whose first language is ASL are able to achieve PhD’s, the fact remains that the majority of people taught ASL as a first language suffer dramatically for it. Whether you believe the US has an “official” language or not, the fact remains that there exists a small, but powerful group of people – the culturally deaf and educators of the deaf - who insist that a foreign language is the “official” language of a certain group of Americans.There is no greater crime than to stand between a man and his development; to take any law or institution and put it around him like a collar, and fasten it there, so that as he grows and enlarges, he presses against it till he suffocates and dies. – Henry Ward Beecher

Paotie is Paotie.

The Shameful Lynching of America by Al Sharpton

Paotie — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 23:07:46 EDT

What the hell is goin’ on?Yesterday, CBS fired Don Imus under the premise that CBS President Leslie Moonves wants to stop the human degradation of American society. I guess he means that somehow, he feels by making Imus an example, the rest of America will follow suit and start canning or laying off rappers or hip hop artists for spitting out lyrics out about killing people, raping bitches, and being drug dealers. These people aren’t exactly preaching the wonderful virtues of human society.In fact, Snoop Dogg claimed that when rappers sing about bitches and hoes, it’s really about the loser women who are to be exploited in the same vein that pimps take advantage of women down on their luck. But, then Stuart Scott, of ESPN fame, notes that Blacks calling women “hoes” is really a term of endearment, or rather, a sign of affection, and that’s just the way it is. And, from the MSNBC website came a report that the slur, “nappy-headed” was really an old, outdated slur, once meant to be especially cruel, that fell out of favor, presumably by offensive whites – until Imus and Sharpton reminded America.Maybe there really is no double standard at play here in this country. Maybe the thing white people have been doing all wrong is not knowing what the appropriate vernacular with regard to making poorly contextual jokes about Blacks. I mean, if Snoop Dogg claims that calling women “hoes” is only intended for those down on their luck, and Stuart Scott claims it’s really a term of affection, and if the Oxford English Dictionary says “nappy-headed” is such an old term that nobody uses it anymore, then exactly what’s wrong with what Imus said? Nappy-headed hos.Oh, wait. He’s white, and that’s the most important aspect of the furor surrounding Imus’ infamous words. It isn’t that what he said was racially motivated; it isn’t that Imus is a racist: it’s simply that Imus should’ve known that the Black right was itching for a public lynching of a prominent white male.And, the proof is in the pudding in how Snoop Dogg and Stuart Scott contradict one another, and these are two highly visible Blacks. If they can’t agree what the word, “hoe” means, then how in the hell can Don Imus be expected to know every proper contextual use of slurs? Again, it must be because he’s not Black.I confess that I didn’t even know nappy was an offensive word. I didn’t know, either, that it also meant kinky, although I’ve yet to find an example on how to apply the word nappy to mean kinky. I honestly thought it just meant really, really, really curly hair. I’ve seen Nappy Tabs clothing apparel. I’ve seen nappy diapers, too. Excuse my ignorance, Black America – I once thought Limp Bizkit was a sexually transmitted disease – I don’t know and pretend to know all the words that exist in the English language that are supposedly hurtful towards you.Sticks and stones may break my bones, but your bad words will never hurt me.When I was a child, I attended public schools despite the fact I was deaf and had no sign language interpreters. Many of the kids in my school taunted me and made fun of me, and I learned to deflect the insults and slurs with the rhyme my mother taught me. She had told me that to allow someone’s insults to hurt me would to let them have power over me. Ignore the insults or taunts, and the offending slurs lose their power and in the end, the offensive idiot looks just like that – an idiot.I haven’t seen anyone tell the kids at Rutgers that sure, they might’ve been offended, but they also had the power to not be offended. With freedom of speech comes the added freedom of not being offended. If you were offended by Imus, then surely, you’ve got to step back and think about what the man does for a living, how he does it, and what his motives are (make money). And if you’re still offended by it, then it says more about you than it does about Imus.In fact, it’s likely that the only people really offended by Imus’ stupidity were the women on the basketball team for being called, “hoes.” I’m willing to bet most of the women on the Rutgers team also didn’t really take offense to being termed “nappy-headed hos” in the vein of evil and racist hatred towards them by Imus. If anything, I think some of these women were scarred by Sharpton’s shaming them into victimization. Still, they’ve demonstrated taking the high road by forgiving Imus – unlike Sharpton.Sharpton has been shaming people in America in the same manner as a fraudulent shrink would falsely tell a woman she was raped as a child to continue earning counseling fees for repetitive counseling sessions. And, much like a woman who is duped into thinking she’s a victim, Sharpton has managed to counsel the Rutgers women’s basketball team into a collective hive of victims. If you don’t believe me, then ask Snoop Dogg and Stuart Scott why they completely contradict Sharpton’s own interpretation of Imus’ words.Instead of teaching young Americans that sometimes, people act stupidly and then when they realize they did something wrong and forgive them, Sharpton wants Black America to remain hateful, angry, and hurt so that he can remain relevant to today’s society. Without all the firebomb threats and violent protests, Sharpton is nothing but a two-bit pimp and ambulance chaser, waiting for the next racial situation for him to exploit for his own material gain. Like a bad shrink or a neighborhood pimp, Sharpton needs to be removed from the public eye. And, I’ve got one more thing to say to Black America: yes, you were exploited as slaves; yes, you’ve had some difficulties with oppression and discrimination; and yes, it makes you look like fools when Snoop Dogg and Stuart Scott completely contradict themselves and Al Sharpton. Maybe the truth is really that you’re not as much of a victim as you might think and just maybe, it’s time for you to get over the idea of being a perpetual victim you’ve been shamed into believing by the likes of Sharpton.Anyway, Al Sharpton has got go to.

Paotie is Paotie.

If Don Imus Goes, Then Al Sharpton Should, Too

Paotie — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:56:58 EDT

What’s wrong with Al Sharpton?Ever since Don Imus spat out some ill-chosen words on the air, the Black Right has built up public outrage and called for Imus’ resignation -- or that he be fired as host of his radio program. Apparently no number of apologies from Imus is enough to suit folk like Al Sharpton. Instead, Sharpton has gotten greedy and is perhaps contributing to the continued cycle of racism in America. Because of his greed, if Imus goes, then so must Sharpton. Martin Luther King, Jr. advocated peaceful protests, while Al Sharpton calls for destruction of individuals’ lives to promote equality. What Imus uttered was simply stupid. If he was black, I’m sure he’d be blasted for making such a watered-down compliment -- if it was one -- along with insensitive stereotyping of women, in whatever context it may have been. But Imus is white, so everything is now about race, instead of the stupid comment Imus made.I’m not black and won’t pretend to claim that I’m outraged by Imus’ utterances. If anything, I thought it was a contextually poor phrase to use on a national radio program. But some people didn’t like his comment. Sharpton blasted Imus immediately. Sharpton told everyone else in America that the only good justice was Sharpton's justice, and called for Imus to be knocked off the radio waves. The media continue to eat it up like piranhas in a feeding frenzy.So, really, what’s all the fuss about?C’mon. So what if a radio personality spits out something that really wasn’t appropriate in terms of context and uttered poorly-chosen words? You know that his comments would be more aptly served in a bar, with its denizens salting down peanuts and drinking frothy and alcoholic beverages. And, it wouldn’t matter if the bar were full of whites or blacks, because somewhere, somebody would make that comment, anyway, and people would’ve laughed.But, the Rutgers women’s basketball team deserved better applause and especially something that wouldn’t ruin their moment in history. Nobody deserves what the Rutgers team must be enduring now -- their shining light of glory overshadowed by controversy. It really is too bad that the women’s team is being delegated to “last week’s” news, now that Imus and Sharpton are butting heads.I don’t know that I agree Imus should resign or be fired, either. I mean, what he said was stupid, but people do lots of things stupidly to achieve fame, fortune, or whatever inadequacies they have to fulfill. I think American Idol is a ridiculously stupid show, but then again, I’m clinically deaf, so what do I care about people who sing karaoke like Vegas impersonators? But, Imus didn’t do a stupid thing on a stupid karaoke show. He simply and dumbly picked the wrong phrase at the worst of possible times:“Those nappy-haired ho’s.”But instead of allowing Imus’ stupidity die a quick death, black politicians -- those that Walter Williams calls “black hustlers” such as Sharpton -- have seized the opportunity to advance their political cause. Nothing more and nothing less. Like a termite nest swarming with ants, the media has been plagued with calls by Black Right leaders shaming America into believing that the only good thing to do was to have Imus fired or have his resignation provide evidence that somehow, America can make things right.Except that Sharpton and others wanted to overshadow Rutgers’ accomplishments by glorifying Imus’ stupidity, and now the women’s team must surely be feeling like their moment in history may somehow be tainted by a controversy. And, thanks to Sharpton, the whole issue is now a politically motivated race issue.What Sharpton and others should’ve done was allow the free market to correct Imus and his stupidity. I mean, as distasteful Paris Hilton might be to most people, she sells because people pay attention to her, no matter how stupid or ugly they might think she is. Imus uses the same mechanism, and like Hilton, is subjected to the laws of free market supply and demand.If people listening to a radio show are offended by a radio jock’s comments, chances are they won’t listen to him again, anyway. And, if you offend enough people, you just might not have enough of an audience to warrant the existence of a radio show. But, people like Sharpton alternatively live and thrive in promoting people like Imus and their mistakes, and so the cycle continues once again as people are told to be offended, how to be offended, and who should be especially offended: the only way to make things right is to have the offending person’s head on a platter.When I was a young boy, my father took me to see the movie The Last Temptation of Christ. Prior to watching it, my father explained that there was much controversy surrounded the movie, and that the only reason he wanted to see it was to understand what the fuss was about. After the show, we both agreed that the movie was a waste of time, unworthy of all the hype. My father, a scientist at heart, would later tell me that the movie made lots of money because of the hype, to which I remarked that it sounded like a stupid way to make money.Anyway, if Imus should be fired for his racially insensitive comments, then Sharpton ought to be banned from the public eye permanently for his racially insensitive comments. Imus’ comments alone would be worthy of a sea of boos cascading throughout America. I don’t think it was racially motivated, and I know it might’ve been insensitive to many, especially blacks, but Sharpton is guilty as much as Imus for being racially insensitive.Sharpton doesn’t believe in tolerance. Sharpton isn’t interested in tolerance at all. Tolerating another person means to tolerate their views, however different you might think they are. Sharpton and others all agree that Imus is a good man, but a crime was committed and someone has to pay for it. I’m not saying that Sharpton merely needs to absolve Imus of his sins; I’m saying Sharpton only wants one thing: vengeance. Perhaps Sharpton really should be accepting Imus’ apologies and leave the issues for the public to decide. It’s no shock that Imus has said offensive things a time or two in his colorful past, but then again, that’s Imus’ chosen profession. Who are we to judge him for providing for his family, just like Sharpton does?Both use the media and public to advance their objectives; both are political hot commodities at different intervals; both see the ebb and wane of their ability to reach out to the public. Both are probably mirror images of one another, even if they use completely different mechanisms. Shame on Don Imus for his stupidity. Shame on Al Sharpton for being a political pimp.If Don Imus goes, then Al Sharpton must, too.

Paotie is Paotie.

Barry Minkow and The White Don King

Paotie — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:14:00 EDT

Tired of your dead-end job? Why not become a convicted fraud felon and sell your secrets to the FBI! Seriously. Meet Barry Minkow at his FDI site. (Yes, FDI, not FBI.)Here’s a guy who once went to prison for schlepping hundreds of millions of dollars from consumers in the 1980s. He even once bunked with a convicted murderer, and his biography claims that he spent seven years in prison among many of the “nation’s leading white-collar criminals.”Apparently, they taught him how to play the PR game to the hilt. It seems these days that most people convicted of some sort of crime tend to find God or some religion when all else fails. Folgers Coffee drinkers – take heed – you’ve got competition with Insta-Religion and Insta-Credibility poured in for good measure.As always, to best perpetuate fraud, it requires that you establish some form of credibility with your victim. I don’t know Minkow, but his FDI website looks conspicuously like the FBI in terms of acronyms. It does sound a bit misleading. I imagine the fun I’d have if I worked at the FDI:“FREEZE!! YOU’RE UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE FDI!!”“Wha- the… ?”“Nah, man! Just joking with you! I said FDI! Not FBI! Didn’t you catch that?”“Uhh-”“You ok? Buddy, you ain’t looking too good. You need a what? A heart – oh, a heart attack? You’re having a heart attack? What’s the name of your church? I’ll investigate them! Don’t worry, if you die, I’ll be sure to investigate the hell outta them! Here’s my card. Praise Jesus.”I read a bit more into the FDI website and found that Minkow thrives on killing Christian churches, even though he leads his own church. Wow! Talk about eliminating competition! Minkow has got it down pat! Jailhouse rules seem to apply to Minkow: to survive, one must eliminate the competition. Included is a "frauds gone wild" video segment on the FDI website. Imagine half-naked, barely legal girls dancing and frolicking for accountants during tax season.The Wall Street Journal recently reported his latest target is a vitamin supplement distributor, Usana Health Sciences. Reading his responses to Usana’s defamation lawsuit had me wondering what Minkow does for a hobby. The whole website, as I mentioned previously, is one giant Minkow self-promotional blog – even if it’s hidden under the pretenses of being some institute of fraud – and I find the whole Usana vs. Minkow to be less about consumers and more about Minkow.The odd thing Minkow does in his press release is try to laugh at Usana for picking a personal fight. The guy had to know that Usana (or anyone) Minkow went after would first point out the fact that Minkow is a fraudulent convict, and still hasn’t repaid his restitution. He claims it doesn’t matter, because the crux of the issue is that he found fraud at Usana and even offers his prison ID number, and I can’t help but wonder if Minkow is feeling nostalgic about his time in prison. Maybe he wants to go back and bunk with his buddy, the convicted murderer?Except it does matter. To not find fraud would represent the loss of untold man-hours and money spent poring over financial documents, hiring CPA’s and other accounting people to find “clues”. It would also represent the loss of potential income for Minkow and the mirage that is known as FDI. In simple terms: no fraud is equitable to no money. To find fraud would mean to create a huge windfall, especially for consulting fees, such as Minkow utilizes with the FBI. But what happens when no fraud is found and bills must be paid, such as massive restitution fees?Create fraud, or at least the appearance of it! Supposing that, ultimately, no fraud is found on the part of Usana, and the defamation suit presses forth and Usana wins, then Minkow will lose much of his credibility and ability to demand exorbitant consulting fees. That would be an unacceptable option for a man as deeply in debt as Minkow. If you create the appearance of fraud, you’ve got some time to sell yourself as an expert and demand higher fees for consultations. Plus, if at a later date, someone within Usana became convicted of fraud – even if Minkow had nothing to do with it – then kudos could be heaped upon Minkow simply for throwing the word “fraud” at Usana officials. In short, Minkow has only two options: to find fraud or create it. It’s that simple. Additionally, the court papers filed by Usana suggest that Minkow rushed in his haste to financial glory. I don’t know. Something sounds fishy. I’m still drawn back to his FDI website and I chuckled to myself because of the acronymic similarity to FBI. Then I remember something I read somewhere a long time ago, “the best lies always have a figment of truth to them.” I’m not saying Minkow is a liar, but much of the FDI website offers generalities and few specifics. He could quite possibly be deceiving people because he claims to have never missed a restitution payment, but fails to mention if he always paid $5,000 a month or just $50 per month. Either way, it’s ambiguous at best, and misleading or downright fraudulent at worst.Moreover, the idea of private fraud “discovery” organizations existing solely on the premise of offering consultations and investigations seems unethical in this case. It seems unethical because Minkow is obviously money-driven, and as people know, money is rarely a good motivator for ethical conduct.Who’s to know if Minkow is motivated entirely by greed? Suppose he wants to be rid of the restitution fees that he still owes, even to one victim? What if he needs more money because he wants a bigger house? Relying on Medicare-addicted, 98-year-old Granny, who feels cheated because her prayers weren’t answered at her church and hired Minkow to investigate her unanswered prayers seems counterproductive and hardly represents any opportunity to garner any significant fees for Minkow. Maybe there is a reason why he’s an expert at elderly fraud.Relying on elderly people to fund his crusades is not a proper theory; in fact the contending theory is that Minkow wants fame and fortune now. You do realize that it’s been 20 years since Minkow was caught stealing people’s money, and maybe that’s what it is: Minkow wants to celebrate the once-good-lifestyle he had. The best way to do that? Make a huge splash in the media. So far, so good.Still, the best part about Minkow’s deal is that he’s not even licensed to be a fraud investigator, even though FDI itself is a licensed investigator. If anything, that sounds fishy to me. Who needs licensing when the organization can be licensed? I should ask certain people back home about licensing and how organizational licensing seems to defeat the whole premise of licensing individuals.I don’t want to go to prison. I don’t want to be somebody’s bitch in prison – especially a convicted murderer’s. I think I’ll take a page out of Minkow’s book and tell people that I’ve been to prison before (but of course, I’ll omit the fact that I went for a college class field trip) and that I’m a born-again Christian (I was once, but am now an atheist), and create an organization called Fight Back Institute (FBI) and be paid exorbitant fees so I can live the good life.I’m giving up my MBA degree. I don’t need any stinking degrees anymore. I’ll claim fraud within any organization and hope that soon, someone will be accused of fraud and then be convicted and then I can claim that I did it all and that it was my expertise that started the chain-reaction and that I’ll be writing a book shortly afterward - and that I’ll be training more idiots on fraud prevention, and converting all that publicity into money so I can live lavishly, because … well … I can. Just like Minkow.I don’t know if Barry Minkow is still a fraud these days. The FDI website looks a bit shady, if nothing else, because it’s entirely self-promotional and all about Barry Minkow. I’m even surprised that Minkow himself doesn’t refer himself in the third person. And the fact that the FDI contains the “FRAUDS GONE WILD!” videos suggests that Minkow is more about sensationalism and material greed than the ethical, honest and integrity-driven pursuit of the truth.Fraud or not, Barry Minkow sure knows how to fool people. And, he knows how to milk PR for every cent its worth, too. Whether he’s misleading people or simply pursuing the truth, his track record reminds me of an old proverb:Fool me once, shame on you.Fool me twice, shame on me.Whatever happened to Don King, anyway?

Paotie is Paotie.

It's Time for Blacks to Get Over Slavery

Paotie — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 06:42:23 EDT

Syndicated columnist Walter E. Williams pouts and complains that calls for the Virginia legislation to issue decrees of apologies for slavery fall far short. In fact, he goes the extra mile and suggests that whites owe blacks something. He seems to suggest that each and every white person should resolve black problems in Virginia – as if blacks themselves are unable to do anything.Mr. Williams does everything but admit accountability for himself or blacks in Virginia. Instead, he criticizes white legislators in Virginia for not appeasing his requirements for an apologetic legislative mandate; and then squarely lays the blame on whites for whatever societal ills blacks in Virginia seem to have, ranging from unemployment to murder. Then, in a brilliant display of hypocritical meandering, Mr. Williams issues what could easily be labeled as “poor,” “pathetic,” and “insensitive” regret for the murder of six million Jews; untold millions of Russians; for the murder of 45 million Chinese; for the Khmer Rouge’s massive genocide programs; and the more recent programs of genocide in Uganda (though he conspicuously fails to mention Bosnia – almost all the victims were whites). Quite conveniently, Mr. Williams also attempts to portray the plight of blacks in Virginia to be on par with these millions of victims.The problem Mr. Williams has is the fact that slavery (in the context he discusses) happened more than 100 years ago, and in his futile attempt to link past with present, he tries to develop a correlation as to why blacks in Virginia suffer from various societal ailments. To put it simply, Mr. Williams asks – no, demands – that modern sufferings of black people must be cured by whites, if only because once upon a time, black people were slaves in Virginia, and that any murder which occurs in Virginia in 2007 will be the direct result of slavery in the 1800s. I got news for Mr. Williams: Get over it, already.I’m not about to deny that blacks in this country still have some difficulties in making inroads towards achieving the American Dream, whatever that may be. There are always pockets of people who are prejudiced against other people, if only because of skin color, cultural differences, or even politically philosophical differences. And unfortunately, the evil perpetuated by racism continues, even in today’s increasingly liberal society, and it seems to be an ingrained aspect of American life. I know something about discrimination and oppression, though, and probably more so than the vast majority of blacks in this country: I’m deaf. You won’t see me, however, pining for legislators to issue apologies for the treatment of all deaf people, either. Once upon a time in ancient Sparta, deaf babies and children were killed simply for being born deaf; in later centuries in this country, deaf people were shuttled off into “institutions” never heard from again; and in more recent times, deaf people were not allowed to vote, drive, find gainful employment and so forth and so on. Even as recently as the 1970’s, a common prescription for children born deaf was simply to have them placed into asylums, and rarely offered the opportunity to become full-fledged humans. In short, the dehumanization of deaf people throughout multiple civilizations has long been ignored, and a lack of apologetic legislative decrees shows insensitivity and further dehumanizing of all deaf people – at least, if we use Mr. Williams’ logic. So, where is my apology, Mr. Williams?Moreover, at the onset of World War II, the first groups the Nazis practiced their genocide and human pain tolerance trials (imagine acid being poured into your eyes just to gauge the response) were on deaf (and other disabled) people – not Jews. In postwar West Germany, deaf people were required to be sterilized. In many Arabic countries – even today – laws (written and otherwise) exist to “protect” families and dowries from forfeiture in the event a child is born with a birth defect, such as deafness. I bet Mr. Williams has never walked across the border to Mexico and witnessed deaf (and disabled) children standing on the bridge between the two countries, begging for money. There are far too many other examples to list, but the point is clear: dehumanization of deaf (and disabled) people around the world continues. Nationally, deaf people routinely suffer the highest levels of drug abuse, suicide, unemployment rates, generally do not receive adequate education, and are typically mired in the ignorance of society. Even the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was created to “level the playing field” for people with disabilities, was trashed by millions of people who did not suffer any form of disability and have, for all intents and purposes, reduced the ADA to a weak legislative mandate barely hanging on for survival.So, where is my apology, Mr. Williams? I have routinely faced discrimination in many forms, although I seriously doubt a lynching of a deaf person has occurred in recent years. I have faced oppression in various forms, although I don’t complain that all hearing people owe me the regret of thousands of years of dehumanized practices on people like myself (my deafness is genetic, so using Mr. Williams inference, all poor treatment of others in my genetic line deserve some form of apology). Despite all this, I have never killed someone. I have never robbed someone, either. I’ve stayed away from drugs and other pitfalls of society because I’m not stupid.If anything, the deaf community in this country needs serious help, but I don’t see Mr. Williams demanding such action. In fact, why doesn’t Mr. Williams apologize to some 200 children, ages 11-15, who were forced into prostitution by more than 150 pimps in Oakland, California? Why doesn’t Mr. Williams apologize to the Filipino woman named Serena, who was beguiled into going to Saudi Arabia to seek better employment opportunities, only to endure forced slavery (sexual, too) since her employer seized her passport and refused to return it to her? Why doesn’t Mr. Williams apologize to countless other minority groups struggling to survive – literally and figuratively – in many countries around the world? Slavery still exists globally, although I rarely have ever seen any high-profile black person attempt to advocate the plight of enslaved victims in other countries. Seems to me that blacks in this country have little to complain about, especially with regard to legislative mandates issuing apologies for sins that occurred more than 100 years ago. Compared to deaf people, for example, there’s little justification or rationalization why blacks can’t find decent jobs, or can’t obtain decent education, or not murder other people, or not consume illegal drugs.What the Virginia Commonwealth General Assembly did was wrong - they shouldn’t have issued any apologies whatsoever. And now, because of their stupidity, every group in America will demand and seek apologies from everyone not in their group. It won’t be long now before a homeowner’s association will demand that everyone living in apartments apologizes to homeowners for lowering land values. Mr. Williams and everyone else who seem to feel that whites owe blacks something, let me tell you: get over it. The best way to overcome whatever societal plights your group may be suffering is to accept responsibility for your actions – not what your ancestors or someone else’s ancestors may or may not have done. Even if Mr. Williams had a great, great, great grandfather who was a sharecropper, which has nothing to do with a black man killing another person in 2007, there is no correlation, other than what might exist in Mr. Williams’ mind between slavery in the 1800’s and the murder rate in Virginia in 2007.At some point, blacks need to stop complaining about slavery. Yes, it was a horrible crime against humanity, but put into the appropriate context and perspective, slavery in this country pales to the massive crimes against humanity in modern times, from China to Turkey to Uganda (and Bosnia, Mr. Williams). White people don’t owe blacks anything; nobody owes anybody anything, other than common sense and decency, and if we subscribe to Mr. Williams’ philosophy, we may as well all extrapolate apologies for every perceived sin (real or not) humans inflict upon one another and that would simply be too cumbersome, too difficult and in a word - stupid. I will defer Mr. Williams’ owed apologies if he’ll go and be positively constructive about ending slavery elsewhere in the world. Go volunteer for Free the Slaves. Donate money for poor, starving children who were once slaves in Asia. Speak out against slavery where it really exists – not something that happened well over 100 years ago. Until then, people like Mr. Williams need to do one thing first:Get over it. Finally, a passage from Richard C. Harwood’s book, Hope Unraveled, is appropriate: “If you want to change the world, start with your country; and if you want to change your country, start with your state; and if you want to change your state, start with your town; and if you want to change your town, start with your family; and if you want to change your family, start with yourself.”

Paotie is Paotie.

Why A Cappuccino Won't Win the Presidential Election

Paotie — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 15:47:03 EST

Barack Obama won’t win the presidential election. He just can’t win. He’s too black. He’s too white. Whatever you want to say, he is one thing: he’s a living cappuccino, and it's why he won’t win.For some reason or another, Americans demand that people have concrete, divisible, political stances: either you’re for or against a particular political policy, mandate, proposal, or result. Americans, it seems, do not like people who are too ambiguous with their political ideals, and it might have something to do with a perception that if a person can’t take a political stance, then they somehow lack the courage and conviction to be a politician, let alone president. President George W. Bush might be an idiot, but at least we all pretty much can know what to expect from him based on his political values. With Obama, nobody knows who he is, or what he represents.If you look at Obama's official Senate website, you’ll notice that he hardly mentions anything about civil rights. One section even outlines his political issues and explains what he believes regarding the war in Iraq, illegal immigration, and ethical issues. But the issue of civil rights is notably absent with one minor and important detail: at the end of his biography, he notes that he was the first African American to be president of the Harvard Review. He wants us to acknowledge that and he also wants us to acknowledge that he is not resting on his civil rights laurels, if he even has any. For all we know, he may very well have obtained his political standing simply because he was an African American playing the “game” in a white-dominated world. For that, we should give kudos, he says, as evidences of his statement regarding the Harvard Review.It doesn’t stop there, though. Obama continues to border between “too white” and “too black” in terms of his political views. He seemingly has a maddening inability to take a concrete stand on the racial issue, which seems to beg more criticism heaped upon him because he is, after all, a racial minority. If he can’t be a civil rights leader, blacks seem to say, then he is just simply “too white.” If he can be a strong civil rights leader, many blacks and whites will complain that he is “too black.”The guy can’t win. And he won’t.His meteoric rise will be his ultimate downfall. Here is a man who overcame odds of some sort to become a powerful minority within the political system. Some part of his success came because he was black; some of it can be attributed to his work ethic; and still, aside from innumerable variables, a little luck probably helped too.But, liberals seem disenchanted with him because he doesn’t have the political resume of a Rev. Jesse Jackson (and his 100 children out of wedlock); he doesn’t have the political charisma of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley; and he certainly doesn’t have the civil rights convictions that Jackson or even Al Sharpton seem to have with regard to political issues. Many African Americans would be calling Obama an “Uncle Tom” if it weren’t for the fact that he’s the first viable black presidential candidate since, well, Rev. Jackson in the early 1980s.Conservatives feel Obama is merely pretending to be white and not “black enough.” He doesn’t seem to lay political issues with open segues for racial issues and doesn’t do enough “civil rights” advocacy through litigation or legislative action. In short, Obama may be a great black politician having overcome huge and long odds to reach the pinnacle he’s reached now, but conservatives may only deem him as a “token” black presidential candidate to keep the masses of blacks satisfied with the political status quo of racial progress as defined by the number of black presidential candidates.This reminds me of the recent student strikes at Gallaudet University, the nation’s primary deaf institution. In the mid 1980s, President I. King Jordan ascended to the school’s presidency after students complained the previous president wasn’t “deaf enough.” When President Jordan announced his impending retirement in early 2006 and named a presidential suitor in Jane K. Fernandes, students revolted because of an impression that Fernandes wasn’t “deaf enough.” Fernandes, you should know, is deaf and uses sign language. But people within the deaf community decried that Fernandes didn’t use the “language” of deaf people (American Sign Language) and doesn’t support ASL-driven deaf culture because Fernandes believes deaf people by and large need to move away from accepted models of disability and deafness. But, that didn’t matter to the students – all that mattered was that they wanted someone to agree with what they wanted, and when things don’t go their way, they resorted to strikes. (Fernandes was eventually forced to resign by the board at Gallaudet, and Sen. John McCain abruptly resigned from the same board in protest of the student strikes.) Obama would do well to learn from Fernandes and should start picking a racial stance and sticking with it until the end. But until he does that, he will forever be labeled as a cappuccino – neither too white, nor too dark. Like Fernandes, Obama has some support from multiple groups - blacks and whites - but he is in danger of being swamped by civil rights issues, which is something he has hardly addressed. Ironies of Starbucks being next to my gym aside, I can’t help but feel sorry for Obama. Here’s a man who overcame long odds, and played the “game” quite masterfully – too masterfully, in fact – and has the potential to be President. It’s just that the way he came to prominence will be his undoing, and that is also ironic.Still, I can’t help but remember the immortal words of Louis Armstrong in his song, “What a wonderful world”:The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the skyAre also on the faces of people going byI see friends shaking hands saying how do you doThey're really saying I love you.I just want to know, is cappuccino a color of the rainbow? (Rev. Jackson, please take note.)

Paotie is Paotie.