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Bill Moyers returned to PBS with Moyers and Company, which was scheduled to end this past January. Due to public demand, he kept it going, but cut the show from an hour to 30 minutes.

I think the next logical step in removing ourselves from Facebook/diminishing the amount of use in social media, is to begin writing more and more articles explaining the problems with paying for promotion. I think it's time I start sharing these articles. This will be for the sneaker company, because like I said, I haven't really done much with the author's page: http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/arch-footwear-springsummer-sales-report-2013 (in this article you see immediately that using Facebook ads increases likes, but it does not translate into sales. Unfortunately I did not do a thorough investigation but when you read this next article you see that Facebook ads did not really help with sales at all. http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/arch-to-be-or-not-to-be/ (This is my last report before placing my shoe company on hiatus. By the time I wrote this I had over 900 Facebook fans. 300 of those signed up because I did a giveaway and after the giveaway was over, interaction dropped to nothing!) I think this article is the most telling of all of the articles I wrote about how and why Facebook doesn't work for small business. It was written in November of 2012 and I still went against my own thoughts and paid for Facebook Ads again as you can see in the above articles. Here is that article: http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/more-marketing-and-sales-information-on-running-and-casual-shoes/ That article should have been my warning, but I drank the Kool Aid up until we basically started this discussion. For anyone interested I keep an accurate account of sales on the shoe company and I honestly think the information translates to any small business including writers and publishing. Those people holding that seminar are full of warm, mushy Troy. Here is a sales total without using any Facebook Ads: http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/final/

I made a new year's resolution, to stop being so negative, but I have occasional lapses. I always rationalize my critcism by telling people that it serves to strengthen their convictions. So keep your eye on that half full glass, Troy and CDB. There's no reason why you 2 can't be instrumental in the change that will inevitably come.

I think the fact that you acknowledge that you have submitted to this structure is a telling sign that people are actually aware, but simply lack the ability to change the way things are done. While Troy and I are debating here, we are taking small steps to at least attempt to subvert the structure. These small steps may not get us 1 mile up the road, but if enough people walk an inch they can change things. I think a lot of people are aware, but they feel powerless to change the situation. Nihilism is debilitating. It is not for the retired generation to attack the problems we are discussing. It is for the tech savvy, cell phone carrying, notepad device browsing generation to realize that their online browsing habits fosters the continued subservient existence of Black folks. Those in a position to actually sway public opinion will not, because as Cut Man states, "they vie for the approval of the dominant society." They are afraid to really take on the challenge of changing the way people think because they don't want to fall out of favor. I have chosen to take what action I can because I have learned to operate in the grey area. I don't have a "job" where I have to be careful about what I post or share on social media. I don't have a fear of being denied anything because I am saying 'stop shopping at conglomerates and support small business'. Unfortunately, I'm in the minority of people who can be outspoken. At the same time however, I also don't have a big enough voice to create a substantial change. But with my 300+ Facebook followers being shown the banner Troy created, they are now aware of Huria and my own website; when for the longest I directed people away from my site to Facebook and to Amazon. I don't know if it's good that you are a dying breed... because the person who is aware is the person who begins to change and cause others to change as well. (I get what you are saying though :-)

Where is God in all of this? Why does "He" allow ever faithful black folks to be the victims of all the injustices afflicted on them and then, adding insult to injury, rewards the white perpetrators by enabling their dominance?? Time and time again, we hear what a pillar the black church has been in the ongoing struggle for equality. Unfortunately, black people are neutralized by religion, thinking prayer will change things and that right will overcome wrong and if it doesn't, well - then it's god's will, even as the preachers maintain their vaunted status. In the Layman's arena, we have the voices in the wilderness, defining the problem, telling the have-nots what they should do to bring about the downfall of corporate America. But talk is cheap. Black people are, after all, a part of a labor force that gains its livelihood by working for the giants of Industry. Entreating them to do what amounts to biting the hands that feed them creates a dilemma. I applaud the good intentions of these earnest, dedicated people who warn and predict, while offering simplistic solutions to complicated problems, prodding the masses to question why in a land of plenty, everybody ain't rich. What I reject is their idea that people should be expected to share their wealth for the common good, Wishful thinking. Greed is the name of the game; "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". And were the situation reversed, black folks would would not be charitable and fair to a white minority. As losers in a game it is not equipped to play, It would be great if the black race wasn't so fragmented and could muster up a united front. Instead, Blacks adapt to the status quo, scratching out an existence by working the system to their individual advantages or, unable to whip 'em, they join 'em, treading water in the corporate mainstream, playing its middle magagement games that provide a tolerable paycheck to paycheck existence. Finally, in the big picture, more and more class has become a factor. And who can blame the black bougeousie if its members distance themsevles from the dead-end ghetto culture where the underclass relentlessly replicates itself? My reponse the "Cut Man" is a very patented one, expressing the contentions that I've repeatedly voiced over the years because I am repeatedly subjected to the "what-Blacks-need-to-do mantras". In the natural course of things, change will come. America quite possible will implode under the weight of all that ails it. From the ashes, a new civilization will emerge and it will be back to square one. Maybe the next time around people of color will have the upper hand. I say all of this as a retiree receiving both a postal pension and a widow's one, who shops a WalMart, patronizes MacDonalds, visits FaceBook, utilizes Google and Wikipedia and because I am also a bargain hunter, goes to Amazon and buys cheaply-priced used books. Am I a dying breed? I hope so, for your sakes, Troy and CDBurns.

Okay, I got you. I was about to really shake my head. This is what the author's page looks like now: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherDBurnsMFA I wrote a description on the picture so when people click on it explains the idea behind it. It's just a start, but a spark is a spark.