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