The Cafe’ Drops The Hammer – Again!

[This post originally appeared before the crash. I thought it should be preserved. It says a LOT about the cafe]

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, two new Cogitations posts were started on the Cafe’ and I wondered how long it would last. Surprisingly, one is still there, but it is benign and primarily blows more sunshine up Stephen F. Youell’s butt. The other was a well written and thoughtful post from a long time user. It, however, questioned some practices at Berlin West and, of course, didn’t last until noon. For posterity, here it is:

I’m not really sure what the problem is here, but every time a post goes up regarding Cogitations, its either quickly removed or blocked so no one else can have a say. Why is this? If someone offers a product, and promises to go with it, and it doesn’t perform, then is it not only fair to put it up for discussion? (Okay, this is Steve’s ‘front room’ and maybe he doesn’t like the flavour of the discussion involving someone close to him – that’s fair enough.) If someone leaves themselves ‘wide-open’ for criticism with rude and vicious emails and posts, then is it not only fair that they accept what is coming their way? If someone offers an amazing deal (only $20 lets not forget) then surely they are due a good deal of praise. It works both ways doesn’t it?

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In my opinion it’s all about “choices”. He had a nice product, the product was widely praised, and then he apparently chose to make a quick exit from the art altogether. With regards to the removal and locking of relevant topics, I guess that “VIP’s” are not allowed to be questioned/criticized. It’s quite puzzling to me too, but in the end the magic community will survive.

Pitiful, just pitiful. This needs no comment as it speaks volumes about all involved.

[Please note that I have been asked by the National Dufus Foundation to longer refer the Founder & Owner of the Magic Cafe’ as a dufus. By definition a dufus is: an incompetent and stupid, though well-meaning, person; also called doofus. I can understand their position, as there is nothing well meaning about that clown.]

Drivel & Drool

I consider the bully the lowest form of life. The guy at the gas station close to me succumbed to heat exhaustion this morning from running up and down the ladder raising the price of gasoline. I’m not blaming him, he’s just a pawn like the rest of us, being pushed around by the corporations and power brokers. As far as I’m concerned there is no pit in hell deep enough or hot enough for the profiteers taking advantage of the disaster in the Southeast to pad their profits. Just watch, they’ll sing the same tired song of it’s not us, it’s the market – oh, by the way, we had record profits AGAIN.

Never fear though, our President, George F. Bush, put down his bow long enough to go on TV and say how optimistic he was and what a tragedy we have here blah, blah, blah and he’s having the Attorney General look into things. Homeland Security had a new name for this and, I assume, a new color. What a joke! Now back to the war.

Me, however, I’m satisfied, I got just what I wanted and expected and at least he tried. Sheesh!!

Postscript: Unfortunately, I lost a comment from a reader when this was originally posted. He was singing the supply disruption song that emanates from the halls of the American Petroleum Institute. I know it’s difficult to accept that our institutions have failed and fallen into the hands of thieves of the first order. I recall one of the partners at Arthur Andersen saying people are just commodities that you buy and sell as needed….and he was considered a humanitarian.

For a perspective of the power and greed of big oil, I commend to you an article by Derrick Z Jackson in todays Boston Globe. Is concluding paragraph is the bottom line:

scary, but true.