Positive Reinforcement

An interesting phenomena has occurred...
Rival club owners are contacting charities and foundations in order to do some type of philanthropic work or fundraiser.
I guess word got out that my business grew from my giving back while theirs shrank because of their avarice.

Everyone Gets Teased (Skackle Dragger)

(She's Australian)
Do you ever wonder who reads your posts?
Or 'what' they read?
I glanced at the widget to the right and noticed that an inordinate amount of traffic was being directed at the "Everyone Gets Teased" posts from October, 2010.
Then I Googled the term and noticed that the posts ranked fairly high on the list.
The point of the series was to point out (to a blogger who complains about almost everything) that everyone has his own form of victimization and that no one is beyond being teased.
That everyone has his own cross to bear.

Some said that being fat, a minority, a woman or gay were victimized the most.
But I tend to disagree.
The people most 'victims' fear are those who can do very little to or for them.
That those who speak hateful words are just as easily attacked for their own shortcomings.
That many have become sissies who cry at the slightest insult.

Odd...
There are so many people feeling victimized that "Everyone Gets Teased" has it's own section when Googled?

Religon

I've heard many people credit their religion as being the cause of their good deeds, positive thinking or the foundation of their outlook on life.
But could we be born with certain tendencies which are only reinforced by our chosen religions?
Are we born into religions which merely serve our social needs within certain cultures or societies?
Is the point of religion to govern and rule over others - or is it best used when we use it as a tool to govern or rule ourselves?

Haters...

Damn... I guess when it rains it really does pour.
I've been taking financial beatings for as long as I've been here.
Everyone I've tried to help has squandered my resources and each of us and has little or nothing to show for it.

This past week has been crazy.
I just booked a Christmas party for a local law firm.
That's a good thing but what is better is that the firm is one that initiated the rash of Asbestos and Tobacco suits here in the state.
They are close to being a billion-dollar company.
This booking has led other companies to book us as their chosen party venue as well.
The philanthropic work added to my credibility within the community and has caused me to become one of it's 'in' members.

I've done what most Black clubs in the area couldn't.
I've gained crossover appeal while still being true to my roots.
I'm sure being from the suburbs in California helped me to assimilate into broader society while others from the area still equated 'Black' with 'ghetto' - but it seems to be working for me.

Now the rumors and trash-talking start.
But I'm pleased with this.
The thing is: most people don't really hate on you - they just hate that they ain't you.
I've been through the toughest of times and tough times create either though people or quitters.
I've been knocked down but this taught me to be able to take a punch, adjust and to keep pressing the action.

Now the hard part...
Too much money, too many women, too many hangers-on - too much status.

Not the Best Season...

But being 6-1 while under probation and a win over Notre Dame isn't a bad start.

$3,000.00

This past Friday I hosted the relaunch party for my club.
The total amount of goods and services donated to cover the costs for the event came out to about three-thousand dollars.
I sold about three-thousand dollars worth of liquor.
I donated three-thousand dollars to local Breast Cancer charities from the proceeds collected at the door.

A rival and more established club sponsored their own last-minute Breast Cancer fundraiser on the same night in an effort to diminish the attendance for my event.
Instead of giving away the proceeds from their cover charge - this club elected to give fifty cents from every drink sold to local charities.
Sure, this sounds like a decent enough idea - but there was a catch.
The club raised their drink prices for the night by fifty cents, and it was that fifty cents which was to be donated - the club was giving up nothing.
Another catch was that their event was so lightly attended that they only had thirty guests.
The average patron drinks three drinks.
Fifty cents times ninety drinks....?
Wow... they made the customer pay extra just so they could 'donate' a whopping $45?

I used to work for the rival club - they even offered an interest in the club to me.
But the owners were too selfish for my tastes.

But the weekend was not over.
Every third Sunday of the month, I sponsor a table at a local social club's open house.
This past Sunday the rival club elected to do the same in an effort to show social supremacy.
The night was going well until the president of the club asked me to stand as he congratulated me on being the new owner of my nightclub.
The crowd erupted as though I had just scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime at the Super Bowl.
(I was a bit embarrassed by the adulation.)
When the president pointed out that the rival club was now also hosting a table...Crickets.
(I was embarrassed for them.)

The thing is;
I take a table in the back and offer free drinks to anyone in attendance.
I'm there for everyone in an effort to support the host club.
The rival club insisted on taking a table in the front so they could celebrate themselves.
The other guests noticed their lack of social grace and quietly let it be known.

I'm not a good businessman.
I don't have to make every penny on every dollar.
But somehow... things always work out.

Was Jack Correct?

Maybe it's you.

Maybe;

You chose the wrong major (African-American Studies) and you should go back to school,

You should eat better, exercises more and lose some weight,

You are not that nice to people so people are not nice to you,

Your traditions and culture are not marketable at every time in every place,

You really are ugly,

You should read more (and better) books,

You should work harder and not expect everything to be given to you,

You should stop trying to impress everyone else and focus on the things which really matter,

You don't need luxury but should strive for stability instead,

Your beliefs and practices are just effed-up,

Your mom was just lying after all.

If we were actually told what we really needed to hear - would we listen or do we prefer the beautiful lies instead?

Nelson Linder Says...

That the man he's known for over twenty years IS NOT A RACIST.
NAACP President Nelson Linder still backs Ron Paul as a viable Presidential candidate.

Sure, Paul says some ignorant-assed stuff, but does that make him a racist?
http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/09/07/10-quotes-that-make-ron-paul-sound-racist/

The article failed to include Paul's view of former Representative Barbara Jordan;
She is "the archetypical half-educated victimologist" whose "race and (gender) protect her from criticism".

One Trillion? Four Trillion? Or Twenty-Three TRILLION Dollars?

 Most people believe that we spent close to $1,000,000,000,000.00 to bailout banking institutions during the height of the financial meltdown.
Others put the number closer to four-trillion dollars.
Still others state that we spent close to sixteen trillion dollars - with eight trillion going to the European Central bank - to 'fix' the banking problem.
Another report states that we really spent about TWENTY-THREE TRILLION DOLLARS !!!
Let's take a look at a number somewhere in the middle:
http://sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/news/index.cfm?id=9e2a4ea8-6e73-4be2-a753-62060dcbb3c3

GAO Report No. GAO-11-696 page 131

For only TWO-Trillion dollars we could have paid off every ones student debt and credit card debt.

We could have done this through credit unions (To help ensure that each area owned it's won local debt) while letting the big banks and the brokerage firms on Wall Street collapse into the messes they created.