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Teaching Students How to Steal

By Ron Lee
Published: 04/19/24 Topics: Copyrights, Education, Photography, Reputation Comments: 0

 

How students are being taught has always been important but has been prominently in the news for some time. There is controversy in all grades from pre-school to college, undergrad and grad degrees.
 
People on the right say students of all ages are being indoctrinated or brainwashed with woke, socialist, or even communist ideas.
 
People on the left say there is no such thing. Their lessons are intended to teach better ways of seeing the world and the right is out of touch.
 
No matter the viewpoint, it would be good to hope there could be foundational knowledge on which all ends of the political spectrum could agree.
 
But not a guy we’ll call "Mr. Smith" for this story.
 
He promotes himself as an educational consultant of some sort, paid handsomely to consult and advise teachers and schools. Unfortunately, his behavior reveals he is teaching students  to cheat and steal by his example.
 
By contrast, Robert Fulghum became a respected author and educator by writing the book "All I need to know I learned in in Kindergarten."  He espoused valuable wisdom like, say "please" and "thank you", tell the truth, and admit mistakes.
 
Apparently, Mr. Smith did not read the book, because when caught stealing he used every trick in the book to get away with his crime.
 
Using his ill-gotten gains as a supposed educator, Mr. Smith invested in real estate. He was happy when another company covered the cost of having some technically sophisticated photos taken of his properties, for their own use.
 
Mr. Smith liked the photos, so much so in fact, that he had his assistant ask if he could buy the photos in his real estate advertising. But upon hearing the price of a  license for the photos, he refused saying that the price was too high.
 
At this point, Mr. Smith had not yet showed his lack of ethics.  Only later did the photographers discover that Smith was using dozens of the copyrighted photos on websites to rent out his properties and make large income from them. He may have used them free for years without any remorse for his theft.
 
So what did Mr. Smith do when he was caught red-handed? When the photos were discovered online? Did he follow Fulghum’s advice to tell the truth?
 
Of course not.
 
Instead, Smith hired an attorney to dream up every devious legal trick, to cheat, and to lie, in hopes of letting Smith off scott free. Finding himself in court, of course, Mr. Smith fabricated excuses:
 
  • I thought I paid for them.
  • I thought my assistant paid for them.
  • The assistant stole the photos, not me.
  • She downloaded them thinking they were free.
  • It has been been far too long to pay for them now.
  • The devil made me do it.
 
OK, he did not claim that last point, but maybe he should. Because Mr. Smith fabricated all the others while raking in dough from his real estate.  
 
The outcome of this theft has not been determined, but it must be expected that Smith will do as he has done before. He will lie, and twist, and blame others instead of taking responsibility. What a bad example for students.
 
Hubris causes supposedly sophisticated people to look down their noses at creative people like photographers. That is nothing new. High income individuals consider themselves superior and treat artists as inferior. And they try underpay them or not pay at all
 
It is sad that the photographers must pay court and lawyer fees to force Mr. Smith to fess up and to pay up, for what he so clearly stole. But sadder still for the world of education.
 
Mr. Smith will continue to promote himself as an expert on education. People will continue to hire and pay him at a much higher rate than photographers, and they won’t even know that Smith is a theft and a liar.
 
That means Mr. Smith will continue on his life-long journey to teach kids and other students how to be a thief. That is sadder than any story Politian’s could argue about education.

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Author: Ron Lee – Contributor, Signatours Photo Team
Blog #: 0988 – 04/19/24

Sponsor: Signatours Photo Team – Specializing n Real Estate, Lodging and Hospitality photos, in high dynamic range 9HDR), wish three dimension tours (3D), grpahic design and more. – Signatours.com

Oprah is an Alien And Other Internet Facts

By William May
Published: 01/04/16 Topics: People, Reputation Comments: 0

Oprah is an Alien

On the Internet people say Oprah Winfrey is really just an alien, that she is secretly married to Barack Obama and that she never actually did a TV show. They say she used a hologram, stole TV advertiser money and sent it back to the planet she came from. (Michelle is actually a man I heard!)

Randy Jones from San Antonio lives with 1,000 cats all named Wilbur. Cindy Rigmore from Alberta has lived her entire life on a diet of egg shells and whiskey, and is 91 years old.

There is a man in Sherwood Forest who calls himself Robin Hood, but lives in a mobile home.

I believe every word of those because I read them on the internet. Or should I? Especially when there are so many anonymous devious trolls out there. Unfortunately, no one is immune from crazies on the Internet.

For decades, I have helped lead numerous businesses which have served hundreds of professional clients and tens of thousands of consumers. They are happy and many have become life-long friends and business partners.

These are the honorable reliable people who know the facts.

Occasionally leaders have the responsibility to handle unpleasant tasks like setting rules, collections, contracts, addressing conflict and even managing litigation. In the many companies I have been asked to operate, consulted for, or invested in, those tasks are always handled with respect and courtesy.

But it is not a fun job - especially when those affected, often resort to online defamation. The outcomes are not always desirable. My long-time colleague Catherine used to say, "If you don't stand up for something, you will fall for everything."

With the advent of the Internet, anyone can write anything they want about anyone else, and pretty much without lability. Benjamin Franklin said, "Freedom of the press is limited to those who can afford to buy one." And today that means every crack pot, crazy and coward.

As my Communications law professor put it, freedom of the press means you can publish anything, but you are forever liable for everything whether wrong intentionally or not.

Today the whiners, complainers and defamers are always the losers with nothing better to do with their time because they have done little and tried even less. They have nothing better to do (truly nothing better) than to assail those who pursue goals and try to do good.

We should hope that today's newly minted trolls go back to the planet they came from but, of course, that won't happen because rude behavior, presumptive stupidity and nutty people have been around forever. It is just that now they have a bigger pulpit to spray crazy from.

Because online posts are often anonymous, intelligent discerning people do not believe anything they hear on the Internet, especially from unknown people. Fools believe everything they read and they certainly believe - with their twisted little minds - that Oprah is an alien.

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Author: William May, MayPartners
Blog #: 0569 – 01/04/16

Sponsor: MayPartners – If you want your business to sell more, call us. Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations and other stuff. Tip top, terrific, tenacious. – MayPartners.com