Dr Laura N-word: Mike Paul says Dr. Laura not racist

The Series:  Dr. Laura's N-word much ado about nothing, Dr. Laura's PR guy a black man, Dr Laura N-word: Mike Paul says Dr. Laura not racist.


The Dr. Laura N-word controversy hasn't died down as of yet, as blog after website, after tweet has chimed in on this. But the one person no one has talked to is the "black guy" who's Dr. Laura's close personal friend. So much so that he says Dr. Laura helped him through a difficult divorce that even her own staff did not know she was involved in helping him get over.

"Dr Laura is not, has not been, and will never be a racist," Mike Paul said in a conversation we had just 21 minutes ago from this writing. Mike Paul is the "black guy" shown here and in the the last two blog posts Zennie62 has posted on the "Dr Laura N-word" issue.

Mike Paul is the head of MGP & Associates, a New York-based public relations firm that has Dr. Laura listed as one of the firms his firm has worked with. While MGP & Associates is not currently working with Dr. Laura, the two remain close friends. The photo of the two of them was taken in Detroit during her successful show and book tour that MGP & Associates was involved in helping to promote.

Race is a complicated issue

I've said that racism is a mental illness, and it is. And the subject of race is a complicated one that's at times muddled by people not taking time to listen to what's being said, as was the case with the Media Matters people.

That written, it's good this is out in the open for discussion.

While Dr. Laura has apologized for what was really a clumsy way of dealing with a racial issue in trying to show that blacks too use the term the N-word, what's forgotten is that Dr. Laura wasn't in the act of calling someone the N-word or intentionally referring to blacks in a derogatory way. That's the difference.

If that were the case, Mike Paul would not have turned to Dr. Laura during his painful divorce.

CityTime SAIC part 2 Mike Bloomberg vs. John Liu by Suzannah B. Troy

Folks:  I got one email and a phone call from 2 concerned New Yorkers responding to my blog posting about Juan Gonzalez's powerful news reporting on CityTime, an Orwellian Time clock I dubbed "The Tax Payers' Titanic" concerned about 70,000 NYC government employees not getting paid on time if we the people of New York are not married to renewing the CityTime contract this September aka handing over $100 million to SAIC when, ehem we are about to head further down in to the budgetary black hole thanks to Albany and City Hall making terrible wrong choices like this one when ehem "some" are not too busy stealing tax payer money.

My caller said that is BLACK MAIL!   I used some other choice words but yes indeed.  My caller got it exactly correct.


Isn't nice to know why NYC's economy tanks and we have more cuts and lay-offs that SAIC is holding 70,000 city employees pay hostage if NYC doesn't sign a 3 year contract with them with a guaranteed pay check of a 100 mill? I thought At&T was hell forcing me so sign 2 year contracts over and over for my IPhones!

Now let us turn our attention to SAIC.  I am an artist and blogger without a press pass.  The dirt I found on SAIC and it is ugly is from Ali Winston's investigative work in her article from City Limits.  Recommended you read the entire article but if you are too busy than read this excerpt.

Besides the size of the CityTime budget, there are questions about the companies who've been contracted under it. Science Applications International Corporation, a San Diego-based consulting firm founded in 1969, is the main contractor for CityTime, under a deal currently worth $348 million (up from the original contract value of $68 million). The company is responsible for research and development for the biometric readers, as well as implementation of the scanners and accompanying network. SAIC is a major government contractor, ranking among the top 10 federal vendors for at least the past four years and raking in $4.4 billion in contractors with the U.S. government in 2007 alone.
~        

1 big bad mark: "....But SAIC has also had high-profile problems over the years. In the early 1990s, the company and six of its employees pleaded guilty to making false statements in their handling of work at EPA Superfund sites. "

2nd big bad mark: )

"In 2004, the Pentagon's inspector general faulted SAIC's performance on a contract to rebuild the Iraqi media. "

3rd big bad mark")

The following year, the FBI blamed SAIC for botching the development of the bureau's new "Trilogy" information management system (although the Justice Department inspector general said the FBI deserved much of the blame). And the company was still wrangling into 2007 with the Greek government over whether SAIC deserved full payment for a security system it developed for the 2004 Athens Olympics.
        
OPA chief Bondy maintains that OPA is keeping a sharp eye on SAIC's performance. "There is a tremendous amount of focus, attention, and energy being put on managing SAIC's delivery of services," Bondy said. Mayor Bloomberg's office also expressed its confidence in SAIC. "SAIC is a large company that does a lot of business worldwide, and OPA vetted them appropriately at the time of their selection and found them responsible," said City Hall spokesperson Matt Kelly."

This is all from Ali Winston's piece and in the next paragraph she gets in to Joel Bondy.   

Folks -- hey I am an artist and I am very busy and also very tired trying to get rest ( my rest deficit feels as big as Albany's budget deficit)so you explain to me?

Doesn't Joel Bondy work at City Hall as the head of payroll....when when you read up on his you find out some where along the line he got a consulting fee for CityTime -- I guess before he was made the head of this disaster by Bloomberg but of course no conflict of interest and Joel Bondy is the man I guess that gives up this big lush consulting fees....  I thought I read he got a million dollars for working on this at some point maybe before he started as the city gov head-- maybe I wrong but if so -- I would like to know how many consultants have received a million dollars or more over the years for their advice because their advice it isn't working.

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/01/13/2010-01-13_payroll_guy_cashed_in_extech_boss_padded_250g_city_salary_by_lobbying_mike_for_c.html

Here is another quote from the Ali Winston piece....

"According to his testimony during a July 2007 court hearing on CityTime, OPA chief Bondy launched his own consultancy and worked as a subcontractor for Spherion on CityTime from 2002 to 2004 immediately prior to being hired by the city. Bondy's biography on the OPA website does not mention this work."     Can someone please tell me why that is?

I am genuinely unclear about Mr. Bondy and a retired city worker Salamone that also works on CityTime and collects a NYC pension!  Lucky Salamone!  If you click on the link Juan Gonzalez writes "Sal Salamone, a former City Hall technology chief, received millions of dollars from the city over the past decade as a private consultant helping to devise a controversial new timekeeping system for city workers."

I just want to know how much Joel Bondy made off of CityTime before he was head of payroll and did he take a pay cut to run the Tax Payers' Titanic?  

This very tired artist wants to know!

From time to time I call City Hall on other issues including Mike Bloomberg's Office, deputy Goldsmith's office. but I never gets my telephone calls answered so if you know something you please tell me!

BOTTOM LINE: Yes, the threat of not being able to pay 70,000 employees on time is blackmail.

Maybe it is true that the CityTime is such a mess that if we don't renew and why does it have to be SAIC but yes may not get paid on time.   Of course if any did not these workers would have the right to sue the City of New York.

Why are we married to SAIC and why have we paid so many "consultants" a fortune?

"But according to several former CityTime consultants, some of the biggest abusers of time sheets were the people devising the new payroll system."  

The above quote from yet another Juan Gonzalez piece ---- click on the quote above to read.

Remember how Mike Bloomberg was recently exposed paying 3  administrative assistance at City Hall an extra salary out of his own pocket?  I just wonder if any city gov. workers are being payed extra in any way shape or form in this way or in another way.

Question:  Can't we find a local NYC whiz kid or technology group to handle CityTime?  Why did we have to go to SAIC in the first place?

SAIC defends their reputation and claim CityTime was a mess when they signed the contract but I notice they are eager to be paid another 100 million dollars plus to continue on and that is not going to be popular with the people with possible budget cuts, fire houses closing, lay-offs, etc.

Stay tuned -- I believe we will be hearing more on this soon....


p.s.  Could we the people of NYC  just get a refund on the whole thing?

Dr Laura N-word: Dr. Laura Schlessinger's PR guy's a black man

Dr. Laura with Mike Paul 

Dr. Laura is being dragged through the Internet mud for using the N-word 11 times on her radio show in a clumsy effort to show that blacks use the term far too much and muddle the moral waters in doing so.

But her effort has CNN pointing to her racial rant and Mediate and Newsone outright calling Dr. Laura racist.

But, as this space asked earlier, but not made the focus of the last blog post, would an outright racist put her trust in a black man to protect her online and offline reputation? Well, Dr. Laura has, even though some may claim he's not dong a great job of it as of this writing.

His name's Mike G. Paul of MGP & Associates in New York City, and his client list includes none other than Dr. Laura.

But the question must be asked: is Mike Paul the "black guy" Dr. Laura was thinking of when she said "Black guys say it all the time?."

Dr. Laura posts an apology.

To quickly defuse the issue, Dr. Laura posted this note on her website on August 11th:

These are my opening comments from my radio program today:

I talk every day about doing the right thing. And yesterday, I did the wrong thing.

I didn’t intend to hurt people, but I did. And that makes it the wrong thing to have done.

I was attempting to make a philosophical point, and I articulated the “n” word all the way out - more than one time. And that was wrong. I’ll say it again - that was wrong.

I ended up, I’m sure, with many of you losing the point I was trying to make, because you were shocked by the fact that I said the word. I, myself, realized I had made a horrible mistake, and was so upset I could not finish the show. I pulled myself off the air at the end of the hour. I had to finish the hour, because 20 minutes of dead air doesn’t work. I am very sorry. And it just won’t happen again.

I received some letters, and what touched me is that, even though many of you were upset, you still showed friendship for all the years we’ve been together on the air, and for that, trust me, I am very grateful. Here’s an example:

I’d like to thank this woman for sending me this letter. I was so very touched, and truthfully, it helped me make it through the night. So I’m going to read this letter:

Dear Dr. Laura:

I have been a listener for at least 20 years. I have bought and read several of your books. I have always held you in high regard, and have encouraged others to listen to you as well. I have to say, after today’s call with the African-American woman with the Caucasian husband who called seeking how to handle “racist” comments, I am a bit dismayed. I believe that African-Americans using the n-word is disdainful, as well as Caucasians or any other race for that matter. I agree that the argument some African-Americans use that it is ok for them to use it and not others, is ridiculous. But, I have to say, when I heard you saying the word repeatedly, it struck a negative chord with me.

I don’t believe you are a racist, and I don’t believe, as an African-American woman, that I am hypersensitive. I have to say after the call, I found it difficult to continue to listen to the rest of the show. I have not made the decision to stop listening to your show, but I felt compelled to respond because I found it offensive.

Sincerely {and she gives her name}

One last note -
The caller in question (her name is Jade), called for help from me, and didn’t get it, because we got embroiled in the “n” word, and I’m really sorry about that, because I’m here for only one reason and that’s to be helpful, so I hope Jade or somebody who knows her is listening, and hope she will call me back and I will try my best to be helpful, which is what she wanted from me in the first place and what she did not get.

Dr. Laura passes "The Mom Test"

To close, as I'm blogging from Georgia where my Mom is, and I have been for a few days now, I asked her what she thought of the "Dr. Laura N-word" issue. Mom says that Dr. Laura's right, and "blacks do use the N-word too much" and need to stop doing it. Mom didn't "ding" Dr. Laura for her own overuse of the word.

Dr Laura N-word issue much ado about nothing

Mike Paul and his client, Dr. Laura 

Dr. Laura, or, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, is being vilified in some areas because she used the "N-word" on her show. OK, that's bad, but you have to look at the context of the use of the term. Far be it for this blogger to say she was right, but when you look at it, it's much ado about nothing.

Dr. Laura was totally wrong for saying the N-word a total of 11 times in reaction to a caller's criticism of her use of the word on her radio show. The incident was posted by Media Matters on Tuesday and took a few days to catch Internet fire; now it's all over the place.

But what Dr. Laura was trying to say is that African Americans use the word, or as she said "Black men say it all the time" (I don't), which confuses her.

What Dr. Laura understands now, after having apologized for the "incident" is that the term's not proper for anyone to use, regardless of color. And that blacks who use it are as wrong for doing so as anyone white.

But does this mean Dr. Laura's a total racist?

Well, let's consider that. Would a total racist hire a black man as her PR representative? The classic racist would never think of such an action; Dr Laura's PR firm is called MGP Associates.

Based in New York City, MGP Associates is ran by Mike Paul, who is - drum roll please - a black man and one of his listed clients is Dr. Laura.

I don't know if Mike Paul was the black man Dr. Laura was referring to, but it's an interesting question. I did call Mr Paul's office and left a message for him on this issue.

The Expendables and Sylvester Stallone reach Twitter top trends

Image by zennie62 via Flickr

Stallone at Comic Con

Proving that even old guys still rock the house, the action movie The Expendables staring Sylvester Stallone is on the Twitter top trends list as of this writing.

The movie, which this blogger's chomping at the bit to see, starts today, Friday, and features Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungren, Steve Austin, Randy Couture, and Terry Crews. All established actors and not what geek culture's into, right? Well, no.

The marketers of The Expendables threw out convention and went right after the very market a 20th Century thinker would have scoffed at: young adults and teens. From a giant YouTube presence to a successful Comic Con debut this blogger attended...



...The Expendables targeted the online and offline Mecca's of pop culture and emerged having successfully captured the attention and admiration of many.

What The Expendables producers and Lionsgate have done is genius marketing and digital marketing work that should be studied by anyone in the business of marketing film. It can't work for every movie, but intelligent variations on the approach will be effective, for sure.

Now, let's see how the movie performs against Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.

Oakland Mayor's Race: Jean Quan, there are no "minor" candidates

Get it?  Huh?  

Now that the Oakland Mayor's Race has reached its second season and is heading toward the November election, we have candidates and groups trying to push what they see as "minor candidates" as Oakland Councilmember Jean Quan said Wednesday, out of the way.

 But Councilmember Quan is really wrong, and this blogger's disappointed that she made the statement because with New Media and IRV, there are no minor candidates.

This blogger is consistently disappointed at the display of the amazing levels of both hubris and, frankly, stupidity that have come to mark the media strategy in the Oakland Mayor's Race.

Newspapers are not the number one source of information today in politics: the Internet is. But the people who run their election campaigns in Oakland, as well as those producing the forums, don't seem to get that. They think that by their actions in excluding talking to all of the candidates, or by some campaigners raising a lot of money, or by calling an editor at a print newspaper, they automatically will be the "major candidate."

No.

Here's an example, as of 8:16 AM PDT. Go to Google.com and type "don perata oakland," then scroll down. Now, the fourth result is a website called "Anybody But Perata for Mayor of Oakland." And the first blog post asks if The San Francisco Chronicle is promoting Don Perata "on the sly," because Perata's photo was right at the top of the article.

To be fair, the reason why I've used Oakland Mayoral Candidate Dr. Terrance Candell's photo on my last blogs is that he's not getting the coverage some of the other candidates have received.  Joe Tuman, who I personally think has a good shot at this thing, has media friends to help him, like at Channel 2 and at KPIX where he worked.   Someone has to serve as the leveler, and Iv'e worked to play that role.

Money does not equal internet exposure

The point is, even with all the money Perata's spent on staff and to some degree the Internet, this problem in online reputation management that's presented by the ease of finding a websire like Anybody But Perata for Mayor of Oakland is the result. Just because Don, Jean, and Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan raise money, don't think it's necessary to win a campaign. It's not, nor is the impact of print media as important because it's almost non-existent.

The rule of the Internet as the source of information today is matched by the use of Instant Runoff Voting to create a brand new playing field. There are no minor candidates here and anyone can beat the other person.

The key is in how often the candidate appears online. I say that to each and every one of the people running for Mayor of Oakland, but save for a few of them, it goes into one ear and out of the other and I just laugh.

The other candidates want to leave it to the media, and then try to influence the media. You know what I mean; like making a call or email to the Chronicle about "that Zennie" or something.

Think I don't know, huh.

The bottom line is this: as long as both the candidates and print media insist on living in the 20th Century and not the 21st Century, who wins the Oakland Mayor's Race will shock them.

Paying attention, Jean?  There are no minor candidates in Oakland.

Stay tuned.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World - OK, I can't wait to see this film

Image via Wikipedia

Is it the Star Wars of our time? 

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is a movie this blogger wants to see because its different.

It's not just that it's a 21st Century graphic novel come to life on the big screen, it's also a different kind of movie. It appears to skillfully blend real and fantasy Worlds in a way that's not been done before.  It could be the Star Wars of our time, except that it's not in space.

OK. You're probably thinking of the video where I ask if there's any black people in Scott Pilgrim vs the World. This video:



I still stand by what was said in the video, because this blogger never dissed the movie, but just said I'd like to see some black folks in it. But that's not what this blog post is about. It's about the pure excitement and interest this simple movie with major hype has sparked.

Normally, one's supposed to become jaded after, let's see, Jaws, Star Wars, Star Trek The Motion Picture, The Empire Strikes Back, Return of The Jedi, and so on. And because those are Sci-Fi movies, this blogger had to see them.

Scott Pilgrim vs the World is more earthbound, but still a fantasy. And maybe that's the reason it's interesting to me; the presentation of that neat alternative universe of someone's dream state.

Ah. Bong-induced views aside, I'm going to see the flick and take my Blackometer with me.

Meteor shower tonight v. Oakland Double Rainbow in spiritual meaning

Image by jdnx via Flickr

This blogger has discovered the reason why there's a spiritual meaning attached to the siting of a Double Rainbow versus seeing a Meteor shower, as has been the case for the 2010 Perseid meteor shower, which is supposed to peak tonight according to reports.

If you review the video above, which was created last year, it's of a unique Double Rainbow over Oakland. The meaning of the Double Rainbow is that you're blessed. By contrast, the viewing of a meteor shower is not seen as a blessing directly; more like a happening produced by God.

The reason why this is, from observation, is the Double Rainbow is awesome before us on Earth. It dwarfs us and yet is not threatening.

If you look at the view, people come out of ZZA's Restaurant and Sidebar Restaurant just to see the great sight that looms over Lake Merritt and Oakland; that can't be easily done with a meteor shower.

You need a clear night sky, patience, and the right location. Rainbows are just there, and Double Rainbows are so rare and large, that people feel they must be blessed by them.

So far, my life since the Oakland Double Rainbow has been pretty good.

2010 Perseid meteor shower time lapse video

Image via Wikipedia

The 2010 Perseid meteor shower - which happens every year about this time for 2000 years and occurs in the constellation Perseus the Breaker, hence its name - wowed that part of the World that stayed up to see it; not this blogger. Fortunately, YouTuber alatafelis in Japan was up and captured the spectacular time lapse video, then set it to mood music.

2010 Perseid meteor shower wows the World.

According to SPACE.com, the 2010 Perseid meteor shower was seen around the World:

Iran: "In Iran, the Perseid meteor shower was great," said Mohammad Reza Zaman Sani.

USA - Florida: "There would be a few minutes of nothing, then 1, 2, 3 in a row," explained Anthony at the website Meteorobs.

Norway - "We had a nice show in Norway even though the sky was still not completely dark," explained Runar Sandnes for Spaceweather.com.

Robert Roy Britt, SPACE.com editor in chief, said "I counted 20 Perseids in a 20-minute period starting at 4:10 a.m. Most were faint, but two were as bright as Jupiter, leaving brief vapor trails that marked their path."

2010 Perseid meteor shower and God

The 2010 Perseid meteor shower has some spiritual meaning, because when I happened to Google "meteor shower God" what came up were recent references to the 2010 Perseid meteor shower. A number of search results where people said that the planet was made by God, or variations of that, or someone writing "God knows," and so on.

But it's hard to find a definitive spiritual meaning of a meteor shower. Dreamsmeaning.com explains that "Seeing a meteor shower in your dream indicates romantic thoughts," but does that mean seeing one in person is the best time to get it on?

When it comes to meteor showers, they're tied to events in religion, but, and unlike the Double Rainbow, which has meaning and says that you're blessed by God, the meteor shower doesn't seem to have one that is accepted by many.

If you find something, send an email to zennie@zennie62.com

NYU the evil empire by Suzannah B. Troy

NYU's president John Sexton was reported in the NY Post to earn 1.8 million dollars and that doesn't include plush real estate he must enjoy courtesy of NYU. NYU spends big money beating down our communities law suits. Look at 120 East 12st. You will see the facade of St. Ann's from 1847 hanging like an Albatross around the newest hideous NYU mega dorm. NYU mega dormed the East Village and king Mike Bloomberg, Amanda Burden a socialite mega millionaire we call the wicked witch of the East Village and the people's Burden are responsible for mass displacement of an entire neighborhood called Manhattan-ville for Columbia University uptown. Downtown, Mike, Amanda and John Sexton have done everything but NYU buses and trolleys and trains to move long term community members out to make room for the unwanted expansion of NYU. NYU's greed to shove as many NYU students in to CITY is like a drunk driver behind the wheel of car. Enough is enough!!!!

Go to my blog search engine to read more about the illegal air sale over St. Ann's by the USPS to NYU and the USPS is above the law ditto for NYU -- they got away with it and you can figure out  NYU's motive to push the air sale through without the State of NY examining is this in the best interest of the community.  NYU's attitude is screw the community and their needs we need more and more real estate for our mega dorms.

No wonder John Sexton ran down to City Hall to testify king Mike Bloomberg must have a third term.   Mike Bloomberg is a real estate developer mayor and NYU is a real estate magnate.

Lindsay Lohan may get out of rehab early by Suzannah B. Troy

The New York Post reports Lindsey Lohan may get sprung early from rehab.  Why use the word "sprung"?  To underscore she was not there of her own choice.  Lindsay Lohan had not hit bottom and decided she must enter rehab.  It was part of a prison sentence of which she did not have to fully serve and if she gets out early with rehab there is not doubt she will fall back to her old destructive ways.  Why?  She continues to get the message she is special and therefore does not have to talk responsibility.

Besides the many legally prescribed drugs she is alleged to be taking she has been abusing other substances at least according to rumors as well as booze.   Who knows if she was allowed to take prescription drugs in rehab?  Who cares?  Well her family and friends will if she ends up being another young celebrity that dies of a drug over dose or accidentally murders an innocent person while driving drunk.

Lindsay Lohan getting out early for a rehab she was sentenced to is a wrong message to send out to the public and most of all it is the wrong message to be sending to Lindsay Lohan herself.  Keeping her there is the right thing to do.  First it was part of her sentence and secondly doing so may say her life and innocent lives of potential victims she could kill accidentally of course while driving drunk.

Bloomberg vs. Liu $176 million renewal CityTime by Suzannah B. Troy

Juan Gonzalez should win an award for his reporting on CityTime. http://suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com/2010/05/mike-bloombergs-citytime-is-tax-payers.html Read my first post which will give you an link to SAIC and federal scandals so why where they called in.

My newest question is why has Bloomberg pushed expansion of this Orwellian Time clock that does not work when he should not have allowed any expansion until the bugs are ironed out and they are many.  CityTime should not be expanded, renewed in Sept. but investigated because of all the convenient consultants w/close to half a million dollar paychecks or more A MILLION dollars for consulting. CityTime is the tax payers Titanic!!!!

Dear Blog Readers:  I have done a long series on CityTime.  You have to go to my blog search engine to read all the postings.  www.suzannahbtroy.blogspot.com

CityTime must not be expanded and yet they have been stealthily do so all summer even though the program does not work.  There are so many glitches that the disaster causes more work and has cost NYC a mega fortune when it was suppose to save money.  Even mayor Bloomberg admits CityTime is a disaster.

Why would Bloomberg and pals not want to stop the bleeding and expansion until this Tax Payers Titanic can be investigated?  Because they are way too many fat cats with deep pockets making big bucks off of this disaster.   CityTime may have set a NYC record for the most highly paid consultants ever and for a failed project.

The mayor would say we have invested so much money we can't back out right now but than I would respond YOU CAN'T EXPAND A PROGRAM that does not work and is gobbling up more of city workers time and is a black hole to the tax payers especially when NYC is heading for tougher economic times.   Bloomberg brings in a republican deputy mayor Stephen Goldsmith to save us money but yet Bloomberg has been pushing the wrongful expansion of citytime all summer further entrenching the program making it even harder for the right thing to be done which is no to a renewal and yes to an investigation of CityTime.

Please make sure to go to my blog to see my many blog postings and also The New York Daily News to read the many articles all excellent investigative reporting by Juan Gonzalez.  In my postings you will find a link to a very important piece by Ali Winston from City Limits which exposes SAIC and federal level scandals leaving me to wonder why they were called in in the first place.

No to an extension of CityTime and yes to an investigation.

Question:  Does it make sense to pay $176 million dollars for 3 more years work when next year NYC government may be laying off workers and closing more fire houses?