At first they handed the brochures out, but began taping to street lights after noticing how heavily layered over they were with campaign posters.  The Oltons assumed it must be okay if politicians do it.

Politicians plaster their faces on public property all the time knowing full well it’s against the law.  Occasionally they’re slapped with fines, considered incidental campaign costs.

After the elections were over in November, Paws-n-Claws received a surprise visit by Agent Victor Thomas from the Department of Sanitation to present a bill in the amount of $8,700 for his four-month collection of tickets to Paws-n-Claws for wrongful promotion.   Payable immediately.

The Oltons, plausibly innocent, sought forgiveness from Sanitation Court, i.e.,  Environmental Control Board.

ECB didn’t care that Sanitation ran a sting on the store, didn’t care that the Oltons wouldn’t have taped up their fliers if they had been told not to, didn’t care that they can’t pay, didn’t care the mountain of fines threatens to push an industrious family into disabling debt.   ECB sided with Sanitation, finding all 116 handbills guilty even though Agent Thomas managed to produce just a single tattered one at trial.  116 x $75 = $8,700!  Due NOW!

Since then Ricardo Olton, who drives a UPS truck at his day job, has appealed at ECB — and lost.   Olton has nothing to show for paying off about $1,000 since Sanitation keeps the total up by piling on penalties.  He’s taken the case to higher court, but has been told even if he wins, Sanitation will still demand its mountain of flesh.

Councilwoman Letitia James has tried to intervene but ECB stonewalled even her!  Ms. James and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn have written a bill to make such bureaucratic extortion illegal in the future;  it won’t help the Oltons, though, because they’ve already been extorted.

The hearing at City Hall will be scheduled in the next few weeks and all interested parties are urged to come and speak.

You may have gotten an email chain letter with the subject line “MOST BLACKS DONT READ? feedback now, thanks. ” You may even have gotten it several times. It’s a provocative subject line. What’s more provocative is the title of the supposed article: “THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES” – in caps. Furthermore the article is written by “Dee Lee.” Who is Dee Lee? Being a common name notwithstanding, according to the article and her picture in the email, she seems like a lovely lady in 50s, who happens to be white. And that’s the real the provocation.

If you read the article, you would assume that Ms. Lee is the grand master of the KKK . In the article, she claims black people are still enslaved to whites, they are ignorant, selfish, and greedy. It’s these characteristics, according to the author (whoever that maybe), that whites can still enslave blacks -without black people actually knowing that they are enslaved.

Unfortunately, this is all wrong. Ms. Dee Lee is indeed a lovely woman who has dedicated her life to educating all people about financial literacy. She writes books and provides seminars on retiring early, on making women smarter with money (all women), on how to save, and more. In fact if you Google her name, her homepage pops up and you can easily find this out in a matter of a few seconds. In fact, here is her website: http://www.deelee.net/index.html

One startling fact is that she states on her homepage that this email chain has been circulating for six years. That’s a long time. And clearly she is bothered by it or the consequences of it because she addresses it on the first of her website. This is sad. This is a woman who doesn’t deserve to be ridiculed as some bigot with an axe to grind when with all likelihood the opposite is true.

STOP the email chain. It doesn’t serve any of us. Yes, we need to stop buying Nike, because Nike as a company is racist. Yes, we need to read more because an informed public will always make better decisions. Yes, we need to save money and prepare for the future because the future is unpredictable. But destroying someone’s reputation, especially when her reputation is the source of her bread and butter in the process of making a point is unnecessary and wrong.

By the way for those who have not received the email chain and are curious to read it, here it is:

THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES
We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.

Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, ‘The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book..’ We now live in the Information Age.. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes &Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that prov ide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all…

GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%).

Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it..  Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing.

They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business. Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU, And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives them ‘Status’ or that they have achieved their Dream.

They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities.

With the help of BET, and the rest of their black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn’t want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They’ll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.

SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A ‘Talented Tenth’ he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some ‘form’ of success.

However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn’t read that the ‘Talented Tenth’ was then responsible to aid The Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life.. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have.. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of their goal Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community.

They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best speakers, not to the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness? They steadfastly refuse to see that Together Each Achieves More (TEAM)..

They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own, as a matter of fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two pay checks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our rooms.

Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are ‘helping’ their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don’t worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, ‘THEY DON’T READ!!!!

(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on! After Reading)

Below is a great op-ed piece by David Brooks of the New York Times. Although I don’t see eye to eye with Mr. Brooks on most issues, I do agree on this particular issue. It’s incredibly sad that we have politicized the education of our children to the point where educating our children is secondary to the politics of education. If we prioritize and ensure that our children are getting the proper tools to succeed, then the issue becomes easy and we will do what works. And Charter Schools are working.

The Harlem Miracle

By DAVID BROOKS

Published: May 8, 2009

An inner-city school eliminated the white-black achievement gap by establishing a rigorous no excuses standard for learning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html

Below is a great op-ed piece by David Brooks of the New York Times.   Although I don’t see eye to eye with Mr. Brooks on most issues, I do agree on this particular issue.  It’s incredibly sad that we have politicized the education of our children to the point where educating our children is secondary to the politics of education.  If we prioritize and ensure that our children are getting the proper tools to succeed, then the issue becomes easy and we will do what works.  And Charter Schools are working.

The Harlem Miracle

By DAVID BROOKS

Published: May 8, 2009

An inner-city school eliminated the white-black achievement gap by establishing a rigorous no excuses standard for learning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html

First, we need to redefine what “low” and “middle” income is.  Right now, we have a system that leaves behind too many hardworking families.   Many Brooklynites are finding themselves making too much to get state support but not enough to pay for life’s expenses.   Therefore, our initiative to solve the housing crisis needs to ensure that the middleclass is not left behind.

Second, we need to extend public-private development partnerships. This will allow developers to profit from their hard work and incentivizes them to set aside a portion of that development (up to 35 percent) for low and middle income families.

Finally, we need to reform affordable housing programs like the 421a.  We need to ensure that they are applied to all developments across New York City.   We need to strive for economic diversity across all our communities.   By ensuring economic diversity in all new developments, we will create vibrant communities made up of people from all social, racial, and religious backgrounds.

New York spends more on education than 48 other states, and yet we have the 30th worst graduation rate in the nation.   It’s no secret that our public school system has been failing our children for decades.  Apathy is often the standard and great teachers are overwhelmed by a system that fails to appreciate them and puts more demand on them each year.

Our schools have been in a crisis for a very long time.   More importantly, as our world continues to flatten and more jobs are outsourced, our children can no longer even get by with only a high school diploma.  In this dynamic and hyper-competitive new environment, we must change the way our antiquated, bureaucratic school system operates, re-prioritize children and de-politicize our education system. With sincere commitment, we can do this. And it’s important to highlight that fixing our schools will not require tons of money, rather it will require an honest re-evaluation of our priorities.

First, we need to increase the number of charter schools.  Competition among schools benefits children by increasing institutional accountability, parental engagement, and a focus on results.  Also, charter schools should receive equal per-pupil funding as public schools.  Right now, Albany is considering cutting charter school funding while increasing public school funding.   This does not make any sense, and we need to change this.

Second, we need to have a better reward system for great teachers.  As a former teacher, I can tell you that teaching was the hardest job I have ever had.   So, I have a great deal of affection and respect for those who do it well.  That’s why I believe we need to compensate great teachers in accordance to their greatness.

Third, we need to increase parental participation in the education process. That’s why I’m proposing that the community should be able to petition the state and local district to remove schools that have been failing for a long time (over a period of years) from the public system and convert them to independent charter schools, subject to state charter school laws.

Fourth, we need to bring back the sense of community in the education of our children.  I will propose legislation to create a mentoring program that connects college students with at-risk high schools students.  I will propose that the city agrees to pay the cost for textbooks and supplies of college students – up to $1,500 per year – in return for agreeing to mentor an at-risk teen in our community.  This will help build communities across economic lines, ensure college students can afford college, and at-risk teens get the guidance and support they need for success.

Finally, we need to expand GED programs.  GED programs are a great way to give a second chance to those who missed out on their first chance.  Currently, GED programs are too restrictive.  For those over age 21, GED programs are wildly oversubscribed, often with a year-long waiting list. Giving wider access to those seeking GEDs brings hope and stability to our residents and communities and allows them to gain access to college.   That’s good for all of us.

Below is a great op-ed piece by David Brooks of the New York Times.   Although I don’t see eye to eye with Mr. Brooks on most issues, I do agree on this particular issue.  It’s incredibly sad that we have politicized the education of our children to the point where educating our children is secondary to the politics of education.  If we prioritize and ensure that our children are getting the proper tools to succeed, then the issue becomes easy and we will do what works.  And Charter Schools are working.

The Harlem Miracle

By DAVID BROOKS

Published: May 8, 2009

An inner-city school eliminated the white-black achievement gap by establishing a rigorous no excuses standard for learning.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/opinion/08brooks.html

Join us this Thursday for a fundraiser in support of Medhanie Estiphanos’ campaign for City Council.  Right now, we have a unique opportunity to bring honesty back to City government, reaffirm the family, and change the way our community thinks, works, and prepares for the future.  However, we can’t do it without your support.

So join us for a for a bit of networking, fundraising, Jazz, and getting to know Medhanie.   Appetizers will served at 7:30 pm and Jazz will start at 8pm. The complete event info is below.