“Sid & Marty Krofft Lead the Way & Answer age Old Questions: The top 10 Wild & Crazy Kid’s Shows of the 1970’s by James Patrick”

The simplest of things.

As time goes on, the struggles of life eventually wear us down and we long for the simpler things of our childhoods. The people, foods, and activities of our youth can fill our hearts with joy in a way few things can and they are greatly missed. One of the things that kids of the 70’s and 80’s enjoyed was some of the wacky kids shows.

For many children of the past, names like Hal Roach, Mel Blanc, William Hanna, Joe Barbera and Walt Disney are as revered as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. For kids of the 70’s and 80’s, you can add 2 amazing talents in Sid and Marty Krofft. They created brilliant shows that were ahead of their time.  Few networks backed or liked them as they should, but millions still enjoy them to this day.   Their crazy use of kid friendly subjects and human puppetry is unmatched.

From 1976-78, one of the most anticipated days of a kids life was the Cartoon Preview specials on the last Saturday night in August before the new school year began.   NBC went all out for them. At the time these were highly rated shows, and commercials advertising them flooded the television screen. Child stars of the day would host these specials and they were geared literally towards kids. It was an exciting time to see what new kid shows would be shown for the fall lineup.

Today we are going to take a special look at the most craziest and quirky kids shows of the 1970’s.

Bigfoot and Wildboy:

Creator: Joe Ruby, Ken Spears, (produced by the Kroffts)

Cast: Ray Young, Joseph Butcher, Monika Ramirez, Ned Romero, Yvonne Regalado, Al Wyatt Jr.

Years: 1977-79

A lost boy in the woods is rescued and raised by a Bigfoot and they fight crime, aliens, and bad guys in a good v.s. evil plot.   This is definitely out there but it’s what the 70’s shows were all about. It’s so refreshing to see what a good parent Bigfoot is.  Here is an episode. Does this monster look familiar? Sleestak mania.

The Lost Saucer:

Created: Sid & Marty Krofft

Cast: Jim Nabors, Ruth Buzzi, Jarrod Johnson, Alice Playten

Years: 1975-76

Running for only 16 episodes, this series has been greatly forgotten by most. It was classic Krofft; quirky, thought provoking and kind with another catchy theme song.  Most shows had an environmental or social theme. It was interesting though because they would take the saucer into the past and into the future to try and get back home. Some of the stories were very thought provoking. Jim Nabors and Ruth Buzzi are interesting to watch in this outside the box performance that stretches their vast talents. An underrated show for sure.

The New Zoo Revue:

Creator: Doug Momary, Barbara Atlas

Cast: Doug Momary, Emily Peden, Sharon Baird, Yanco Inone, Larri Thomas, Chuck Woolery, Fran Ryan

Years: 1972-77

This was one of the most popular shows for pre-schoolers along with Romper Room and Captain Kangaroo. The show mixed humans with life-size talking animals. It won several educational awards and is thought of as being one of the top preschool shows ever made. It had a couple of revivals and it still remains a favorite of baby boomers who have turned the show on to their kids and grandkids.   And yes, below is game show host Chuck Woolery as Mr. Dingle.

Go on Youtube and check out their outtakes which have been released.   Racy, sexual and over the top funny.   They definitely had fun. If you are easily offended, I’d probably avoid them.

The Bugaloos:

Creator: Sid and Marty Krofft

Cast: John McIndoe, Caroline Ellis, John Philpott, Wayne Laryea, Martha Raye, Billy Barty, Sharon Baird, Joy Campbell, Van Snowden

Years: 1970-72

Another Krofft show with a large cult following was the Bugaloos.  Over 5000 actors and singers auditioned with one of them being a young Phil Collins.  With it’s ABBA style songs and outfits, it remains a cult classic especially abroad. It pretty much was a show about 4 cute British teens in bug costumes who sing and have conflicts with the jealous Benita Bizarre played by the great Martha Raye.

The young cast said that Martha Raye and Billy Barty helped them immensely and were the kindest, most fun people. There was a Bugaloo’s movie in the works at the time because of it’s popularity, but due to Universal going bankrupt, the idea was nixed. Several Bugaloo movie attempts have occurred with the last one being in 2017. There was some filming but Nickelodeon in the end didn’t pick it up.

Dr. Shrinker:

Creator: Sid and Marty Krofft

Cast: Jay Robinson, Billy Barty, Ted Eccles, Susan Lawrence, Jeff MacKay

Years: 1976-77

Another show introduced during the Krofft Supershow was Dr. Shrinker.   A great cast along with catchy music, (this is one of my favorite intro songs) which created a fun and popular show.   The diabolical Dr. Shrinker uses a shrink ray to shrink 3 young adults whose plane has crash landed on an island.   The show pretty much is Dr. Shrinker catching the “Shrinkies” while they were always trying to escape his evil clutches. Mainstay Billy Barty plays his evil side kick Igor. He wants to sell the ray to the highest bidder and then give the Shrinkies to the second highest bidder. It was another show that was introduced on the Krofft Supershow that ran for 2 years. Electra Woman and Dyna Girl (video below with Deidre Hall & Judy Stungis) were introduced at the same time and it only aired for one season as well. Dr. Shrinker is one of the lesser remembered and known shows but it definitely is loved by the Krofft’s, and their fans.

Sigmund and The Sea Monster:

Creator: Sid & Marty Krofft

Cast: Billy Barty, Johnny Whitaker, Scott Kolden, Mary Wickes, Joe Higgins, Rip Taylor, Fran Ryan, Fred Spencer, Paul Gale, Van Snowden, Sharon Baird, Sparky Marcus, Margaret Hamilton, Walker Edmiston, Sidney Miller

Years: 1973-75

A show that was near and dear to the Krofft’s heart, Sigmund The Sea Monster was another classic show that kids of all ages enjoyed. The legendary Billy Barty played Sigmund.  It was a demanding part wearing the sea monster costume especially with Billy battling some health issues.  “Billy was amazing”, said Marty Krofft. “He would do things for us that he wouldn’t do for anyone else”.

This is the story of a friendly sea monster who is kicked out of the sea by his underwater family because he won’t scare people. He is then befriended by two boys who help protect him.   Margaret Hamilton also was added to a great cast. She was famous for being the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz! The story lines are sweet, straight forward, and pleasant to watch.  The music was so popular, Johnny Whitaker did a full album with the hopes of making him another teen idol music star.

Lidsville:

Creator: Sid and Marty Krofft

Cast: Butch Patrick, Charles Nelson Reilly, Billie Hayes, Lennie Weinrib, Joan Gerber, Walker Edmiston

Years: 1971-73

Another very popular show was Lidsville. The theme song was another classic which was the norm for the Krofft’s. It was a story of a boy that fell into a huge hat owned by Merlo the Magician at 6 Flags in Texas. The boy Mark goes into a world of life sized hats called “lids”. Some people again tried to link drugs to the cartoon because at the time a lid was the street name for a bag of marijuana. Sid Krofft again laughed at this and said he had thought about the idea a while back thinking of the personalities that each hat may have and how everyone liked hats. If it was a cowboy hat, he acted like a cowboy and so on.

This was a lot like the Krofft’s other shows where little people would sometimes be in the costumes while someone else dubbed their voices.   Charles Nelson Reilly played the villain Hoodoo and was a natural. Billie Hayes played Weenie the Genie and Butch Patrick played Mark. In the show Mark never really does get back home.  He fights beside the good hats to avoid paying the hat check of HooDoo who was helped by 4 bad hats.  Another classic.

The Electric Company:

Creator: Paul Dooley/PBS

Cast: Morgan Freeman, Irene Cara, Judy Graubart, Rita Moreno, Jim Boyd, Skip Hinnant, Bill Cosby (71-73), Lee Chamberlain (71-73), Luis Avalos (72-77), Hattie Winston (73-77), Danny Seagren (74-77)

Years: 1971-77

Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers and the Electric Company are probably the greatest kids shows of all time. The EC was unique and fun and very different because it used sketch comedy to teach kids to read. With an all star cast and guest stars in the likes of Michael Landon, Dean Martin, Carol O’Conner, Woody Allen, Barbara Eden, Joe Namath, Walt Frazier, and Lily Tomlin, celebrities flocked to try to be on this show. It was popular and very well done with recurring favorite characters.   They tried to re-launch it in the last 10 years and it was awful. They did an amazing 780 shows with an average of 130 shows a year for 6 years.  Incredibly some series today have literally 8 shows in a full season.

The EC was groundbreaking and was even endorsed by the U.S. government and many educational organizations. It was always near or at the top of kids show ratings but was cancelled due to it being very expensive to run. While the Muppets and Sesame Street could make a bundle in merchandise, the Electric Company was very limited on what it could sell. It helped the careers of many stars as well and remains one of the greatest kids shows of all time.

The Land Of The Lost:

Creator: Sid and Marty Krofft

Cast: Spencer Milligan (Seasons 1 & 2), Wesley Eure, Kathy Coleman, Phillip Paley, Ron Harper (Season 3)

Years: 1974-76

Name another kids show who had writers from Star Trek writing episodes for it. The Land of the Lost remains one of the great Krofft shows. When Marshall and his 2 kids Will and Holly get caught in a dimensional portal after an earthquake, they go to a strange land where dinosaurs rule. While trying to get home, Grumpy the T-Rex was their biggest worry, but most of the dinosaurs were friendly herbivores. They fight the evil Sleestak’s and befriend Cha-Ka of the Pakuni tribe. Spencer Milligan who played Marshall, left the show at the start of the third season because he wanted more salary and he thought the cast should get a cut of their images and the merchandise that had become popular. The 70’s was not exactly a decade for tv actors to get rich and many times they were not paid much in residuals or merchandise, if at all.

The original cast can often be seen at reunions and fan signings. It remains arguably the most popular show the Krofft’s have ever done. Want to win a bar bet? What future NBA star was an original Sleestak? It was none other than the World Champion Detroit Pistons Center Bill Laimbeer.   When he attended Palos Verdes High School, he was asked to be a Sleestak due to how tall and skinny he was.

H.R. Pufnstuf:

Creator: Sid and Marty Krofft

Cast: Jack Wilde, Billie Hayes, Lennie Weinrib, Joan Gerber, Walker Edmiston

Years: 1969-70

You want to know how great this show is? At the time the show was aired, the Beatles would ask for copies of it sent to them directly by the Krofft’s. Teens and high school kids would write the show by the thousands.   They only did 17 episodes and even today it has a huge cult following. TV Guide rated it their 22^nd greatest cult tv show of all time. Add another classic hit theme, and it’s hard to top H.R. Pufnstuf.

With the iconic Jack Wild playing Jimmy (he played the greatest artful dodger of all time in the 1968 film Oliver which he got an Academy Award Nomination) and Witchiepoo played by Billie Hayes (always flying her Vroom Broom), this is a Krofft Classic oozing with talent.  H.R. Pufnstuf was performed by Roberto Gamonet, and voiced by Lennie Weinrib.  The show captured the hearts of kids all over the world. There were rumors that Wild got a million dollars to do this show.

I cheated a little. This was actually created at the very end of 1969, but most of its airplay occurred in the 1970’s. Below the Krofft’s answer the age old question if drugs fueled the name of the show. Who’s your friend when things get rough?  H.R. Pufnstuf, because he can’t do a little cause he can’t do enough.

James’ Jamz:

The longer I’m around the more I realize what’s popular isn’t always good and what’s good isn’t always popular.  Citizen Kane wasn’t widely seen for over 20.  The Wizard of Oz took 25 years just to break even and that was after network television began to show it.  The networks wanted to cancel Hill Street Blues after one season but they were nominated for so many Emmy’s that they kept it on.  In some instances though, the networks just don’t back what is popular because they really don’t get it. The networks never gave the Krofft’s enough money to produce the shows they wanted to and the Krofft’s went nearly broke at times creating them.  Money wasn’t their goal.

The genius of Sid and Marty Krofft blazed trails and showed the way to a new type of kids show.  Sid; laid back and full on hippy; and high energy and tell it like it is Marty; created entertainment that will live forever. Their search for a kind, gentle, and peaceful world through their psychodelic infused tv shows, resonates with many even today.  As Marty once said, “boy did we mess with kids minds”, and wow did they.  The Krofft’s were like that uncle your parents worry about who takes you on the amusement park ride your parents don’t want you to go on. You are filled with emotions but you love the ride.  With the talented but sappy Disney machine putting out softened stories, the Krofft’s didn’t dumb kids down but took them on a ride of craziness and wonder. Our imaginations were stretched in every way and we couldn’t have been more entertained.

What Sesame Street, the Kroft’s and Mr. Rogers did was they listened to kids; whether young or old.  Just like their loyal fans, parts of these creators never grew up.  What the Krofft’s did was tell us to go off trail.  Go on the path where others wouldn’t or couldn’t go on.  They fed a kid’s passion for adventure, fantasy, and kindness without dumbing them down with sex and violence.  That is something many of today’s parents and tv shows have forgotten.  Let kids be kids and cherish their innocence, wonder, and imagination for as long as you can.  And if you’re lucky; as they get older; a part of them will never grow up too.

The simplest of things.

“From Super Trolls to Sexual Trolls; How to Handle Social Media Trolls”

https://theforumcelebritypodcast.wordpress.com/2017/07/21/update-my-horror-stories-why-im-no-longer-an-open-book-online-privacy-overview/

For me the internet has been a blessing and a curse.  In my previous article (found above), you can see the nightmares that I’ve endured being naïve about my internet activity.  From dating, to business to every day life; the internet is like riding down the Amazon river.  It’s beautiful but there are a lot of things around you that can hurt you.  One of the dangers are the internet Trolls.  These trolls can fly around the internet like Dementors in the Harry Potter series hovering overhead just waiting to be offended or angered.

What a Troll IS and ISN’T:

Society has changed a lot.  People in general are much less into facts or what is really happening.  Some people in general are much more insecure as well.  They are into their own biases and want to be around those that feed that bias.  They don’t want to debate; they want to hear what they want to hear and they want to be followed.  That’s why people watch certain news channels.  Preaching to the choir.

Television producers have seen how the new generation LOVES drama.  Reality shows; even though they are staged (I know some reality show participants and all of them say this) some people treat them like they are fact.  Will anyone watch a show of kind people loving one another?  No way.  They want fighting, arrogance, selfishness, yelling and insanity.  Usually the nastiest people are the most popular.  Well, that is the desire of an internet troll; to create drama and feed off of it.

A troll is someone that goes onto forums or social media posts and likes to stir it up anyway they can.  Most go way off topic and they try to entice others to challenge them.  They want chaos, anger, dramatics and any other kind of conflict.  They are outraged at pretty much everything people say, and they have the victim mentality.  They want to ruin reputations and are often wrong but never in doubt.

Not everyone is a troll.  Some call people a troll if they don’t agree with them.  That’s NOT a troll.  If someone brings up facts or a reason why they disagree with a person without saying something offensive, they are not trolling.  They are debating and disagreeing.  There is a huge difference.  Some people just like the sound of their own voice and spew nonsense and then get mad when people call them out on it.  They are not being trolled.

I experience this on Youtube all the time.  Some of the insane conspiracy theory videos from people like Alex Jones and others are scary.  Like the crazy idea that all of these mass shootings are staged and faked.  Or that lizards and shape shifters are living among us and they are marrying regular people to become a part of our society to take it over.  Some of you are shaking your head and smiling but what’s not funny is that they have THOUSANDS of followers, and they believe these are facts.  Some will even post photos saying here is the person that supposedly died in a mass shooting and they are now married with kids so the shooting was fake.

I went on one of the videos forums and all I asked is where is the proof?  I said, “so all of these families are acting and not really grieving?  All of these funerals are fake?”

OMG you would have thought I killed puppies.  Literally dozens of people started attacking me.  They ripped me to shreds, found my email and began to pummel me with “proof”.  I literally had to block several dozen people.  In this case I was not being a troll.  I wanted to know why they thought like they did.  Instead of sending real facts, they attacked me.  Insecure people tend to do that.

How to Handle Facebook Trolls:

Facebook is used more by middle aged people than the younger generation.  It’s a different type of animal.  When I go on Facebook I know I’m going to see the same posts from the same people pretty much every day.  The political posts will be extremely close minded and based mostly on biased opinion.  Even though some adults are still learning and evolving like you should, for the most part a middle aged person is NOT going to change their mind on things.  Thus it’s pointless debating them.  If the person is open minded and will think about things, then it’s fun to debate.  For the most part though, I try to avoid political comments all together.  It’s also sad to like people and then find out how extreme and bad their points of views are on politics or society.

To combat trolls, personally I would stay away from political comment unless you like wars.  Trolls love political posts and you will almost for sure be attacked.  If you are, just stop commenting.  If they email you or try to egg you on, just ignore or even block them.  If you are still going to post, then remember that just because someone disagrees doesn’t mean they are attacking you.

I remember one lady from Texas (always Texas) started emailing me on Facebook every morning telling me what posts she liked and didn’t like.  She would also leave comments in my posts.  She then started to demand I take some of my posts down or she’d report me to Facebook.  Huh?  She was a friend’s mom so I didn’t want to block her but I finally had to.  She once demanded I take a dog’s photo down because a dog had once attacked her cat and that it was inappropriate.

Another important part is some employers SCOUR Facebook to see comments on their employees.  I know many HR people and don’t think for a second that this isn’t happening.  I know one guy that was flat out told that his sexual posts on Facebook were the reasons he didn’t get a job.  Don’t be naïve.

How to Handle Twitter Trolls: 

Twitter is fun.  It is more hip and used by the younger generation a lot.  Usually half of the top 10 trends on Twitter are based on young people’s topics.

That being said, you have to be careful on Twitter.  Before you get the hang of Twitter, start slow.  Be positive in your comments and don’t be too confrontational.  If someone says something really stupid or crazy, it’s not a rule that you have to respond.  People with big ego’s or who love to give their opinion all the time can struggle on Twitter.

Remember trolls want to get a rise out of you; they want you to get mad.  The key to Twitter? NEVER get mad.  I never tweet something when I’m really emotional or angry.  I remember posting something on a kid that had cancer.  A troll literally started laughing saying one less ^^^%%.  The child was an American but they were of Mexican descent.  All of a sudden the troll flooded my post with anti-Hispanic tweets that were extremely racist while calling himself a patriot.  I didn’t battle him.  I said, get some help; good luck to you; and in 30 seconds I blocked him.  He got my message and now he can never see or react to my posts.  No 20 minute battle; no anger; no stress.  Just get some help and that’s it.  So if a troll tries to hijack your post, don’t argue; don’t stress; and don’t battle!  JUST BLOCK.

How to Handle Sexual Trolls:

This is a tough one because so many young women are addicted to the attention they get from strangers when they post photos of themselves or “selfies”.  I know one middle aged woman who is really pretty and she posts photos of herself just about every post.  Not all attention is good.

Read the news and you will see some of the most horrendous things done to young women these days.  It’s scary how perverted so many people are, especially young men.  Sexual assault is a huge problem in our country and so is sexual trolling.  There have been many deaths and assaults where the first meeting was on social media.

My friend had his college aged daughter do a video for his business explaining an accounting program that she had set up for him.  They put it on Youtube because other companies had asked her to, because she really explained it well.  Bad idea.  His daughter isn’t a vixen, but she’s cute and did the pervs come out.  By the time they handled the problem, he counted over 189 sexual comments written by men on her video; 99% young men.  They didn’t care about this program, they just saw a cute girl.  Some were EXTREMELY vulgar.

He asked me what to do.  I said turn in the real sick posters to Youtube and block the comments sections.  People can still see the video and you don’t have to worry about all of the nasty comments below.  If it’s on Instagram, do the same thing.  Block, Block and Block.  Don’t be afraid to turn people into the site either if they are very aggressive.  It’s unacceptable to be that nasty.  That’s why I tell some young women to be more secure in yourself as a person in real life, and don’t rely on pervert strangers liking your looks for your confidence.

How to Handle a Super Troll:

I got a super troll on my Twitter account last year that wouldn’t let up.  He trolled many of my posts.  I would block him and then he’d make another account.  He finally made an account that said @Ihatejimjax.  Now to be honest I think it’s kind of funny but what wasn’t funny is that his 36 followers were being fueled by him.  The lies that were spread were of legend.  He then asked for the followers to find out where I lived.  That was it.  I contacted Twitter; gave them all his accounts and tweets, and they deleted his URL from twitter and closed all of his accounts.

Jim’s Jamz:

If you take care of trolls early, then you will have little issues with them.  Blocking or ignoring are your best tools.  Debating is fine but fighting with people that just want turmoil and drama is counter productive and a waste of time.  Don’t be a victim; be pro active and if people are harassing you, then erase them from your social media life.  If you follow this advice, worrying about trolls will be a thing of the past.

“Update; My Online Horror Stories & Why I’m No Longer an Open Book; Online Privacy Overview”

“I’m an open book”, said the naive person.

I’M AN OPEN BOOK!  Some even brag about it like it’s a badge of honor.  I learned the hard way how naive a statement that is.

I remember one time I was out with friends and one of them said how they admired that I was the type of person that was the first to try new things or to do something new instead of just following what others think or did.  Another friend laughed, “yea, Jim is the dumb one that does it first and finds out all the mistakes so the rest of us don’t have to go through it”.  They both were probably right.

I have always wanted to think that everyone has good in them.  In reality our culture has changed though and not for the better.  Class, morals and character are harder to find and the evil that we see in the news is pretty scary.  People hurt others without a conscious.  And at times sites don’t do enough to protect us.

(one billion people lose their identity in Yahoo security breach)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2016/10/17/one-billion-reasons-why-the-yahoo-cyber-breach-matters/

How Social Media & The Internet Has Changed Our Communication:

The internet and social media is fun and has a lot of great rewards, but it also has serious issues.  It has made many people dysfunctional communicators.  Some people in business and in personal relationships are like Hemmingway in emails, texts and chats.  Get them in person and their communication skills are as good as one of the Teletubbies.  If I see one more person staring at their phone with their mouth slightly open like a zombie I think I’ll lose it.  Look at people on dates; many don’t even talk to their partner.  They are texting others, looking at videos or even flirting while checking their dating site profile or tinder page.  Go to a movie theater and try to find people that aren’t texting someone.  We have the attention spans of puppies on espresso and as a culture, we seem to use guesses, mind reading skills or jedi mind tricks to communicate with each other instead of just talking directly. Put the phones down!

My Crazy Experiences While Being An Open Book While Online Dating:

Psychologists say it takes a good year to get to know someone, but we think we know someone in minutes.  I remember being an open book on Facebook for 5 years while in the dating scene when I became single.  After a while people would show up uninvited to my house and work.  I had one girl that I chatted with a couple of times do a search on me and found my business.  We had coffee once and I knew she was not the person for me plus she looked way too young.  One day I came into my office to see patients in the afternoon and my secretary said, “you’re girlfriend is here”.  Well that was strange because at the time I didn’t have one.  I walked in and of course it was this young girl.  I asked her what was going on.  I talked to her long enough to make sure she didn’t have an ax or Lizzie Borden tattoo, but I still wasn’t comfortable.  I eventually got rid of her.

The worst situation I had was a girl I met online and we started to talk.  She lived near me and asked to meet.  We met a couple of times and would text and talk on the phone but she told me she slept around some and that there was no such thing as cheating.  I told her we we’re not a match & that we should be friends or just go our separate ways.  I didn’t’ know at my age saying you wanted to just be friends was still bad.

She went crazy.  She started freaking out telling me who did I think I was and that she could get guys 100 times better than me.  She then said I was messing with her and that no one messed with her and got away with it.

At about 12:30 am I began to get texts.  It was from girls asking to meet and have sex.  These girls began to talk about things that we can do that I’m not quite sure are physically possible.  I texted back saying they had the wrong guy and told them to stop texting me.  I found out that this angry woman had put an ad with all of my information on a sex ad on Craigslist.  Craigslist emailed me & said to call the police.  I warned her and she took the ad down.  Instead of taking my time and being careful, I met her quickly and was an open book with all of my personal information on Facebook and LinkedIn and I let my walls down.  I have many more stories like this.

The Scary Stories Of Anger & Wierdness:

One night when I was coming home from work, a man was sitting on my porch.  It ended up being a patient; a pretty scary guy.  He found my information from LinkedIn and Facebook and did a search on me and found my home address.  It was 11:30 pm and he asked if we could talk and if he could come in.  I actually saw my neighbor looking at him and I talked him into leaving.  I slept with a loaded gun next to my bed just in case.

I wrote articles online at times for political sites and I was Mr. Open Book then too.  Unfortunately I said something some people didn’t like and I started getting death threats.  Someone emailed me a photo of my front yard saying he was watching me.  I called the police but I was stressed out and for a while I didn’t let anyone come over.

(Yahoo scans emails to give to the government)

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-exclusive-yahoo-secretly-scanned-customer-emails-for-us-intelligence-sources-2016-10

 

Your Photos are Public Domain & Can Haunt You:

You want to talk about open books, just go on Twitter or Instagram.  People put up or share naked or sexual photos literally potentially ruining their reputation.  I’ve seen 12-13 year olds trying to put up post sex selfies on Twitter.  (How irresponsible parents are if they are not hovering over their teens computer use).  I’ve blocked so many people I can’t count them.

It just blows me away how people can send near strangers naked photos of themselves and even videos.  I’d talk to someone and the next thing I know I’m getting photos and occasionally naked photos or the famous naked strip tease on video.  Friends wouldn’t believe me until I showed them.

First off it’s both dumb and risky at the same time and it lacks class.  I know many are insecure these days needing lots of attention but come on. I had one pretty friend who loved attention. Well her cute and sexy Facebook & Instagram pics were used by scammers to set up fake accounts on dating sites trying to get money from men.  When she spoke to the sites, they told her they would not take the photos down.  Also; especially men; are you that dumb that you think those sexy pics this girl is ONLY sending you (wink wink) is a special way for her to say she wants you?  WHO IS TAKING THE PHOTOS, their grandma’s?  No; the guys they are sleeping with that’s who!

Take Back Your Privacy:

I realized then that between big business pimping out our web surfing habits, locations, purchasing habits, and all of our social media information, I was not going to be used or exposed.  Google just recently said they would stop reading peoples emails.  And former Yahoo CEO Marisa Mayer; one of the most evil of all CEO’s; admitted for years she gave our communications to the Fed’s all while losing over 1 billion peoples information to hackers! Now Samsung admits to recording us through some of their smart tv’s, and appliances are the next to hook us up online.  Well’s Fargo STEALS OUR IDENTITIES but it’s biz as usual.  As long as we can watch Big Brother or the Bachelor I guess it’s all good.

For those of us who want to protect our identity, unfortunately there is only so much we can do.  Remember folks that there is no law that states you have to put the correct birthday or exact spelling of your name on any social media websites unless you are buying something.

After all of the security breaches & drama I went though, I said “enough”. I started over.  I protected myself and also stopped posting up family photos and giving personal information.  I closed all of my social media sites and started over.  I told my 3000 Facebook followers that I was moving on and that it had gotten too weird for me.  Magically all of the drama ended shortly after.

A New Lease on MY Online Life:

I started to write again and it felt good to not be weighed down by internet drama.  Even though I have over 50k followers on my two Twitter accounts, I’m more careful. I’ve slowly created safe, fun and healthy online relationships with some turning into friendships.  I’ve used Google voice for a contact phone number and I feel much safer.

Social media and technology has created a high level of trust in the latest generation and I worry about them because they are very naïve.  Corporations have slowly eroded their sense of privacy and their respect for it.  It’s even a risk with our money.  When I met with my banker once he spoke under his breath and told me not to use the banking app because financial apps in his opinion were not safe.

It used to drive one of my ex girlfriends insane when every where we went; or even if I was online; people would tell me their life stories.  I guess I’m an O.K. guy but maybe people are just lonely and with all of the dysfunctional communications of today, they just need a human being to actually talk to.  This is what we used to do when people had problems.  Be it family or friends or a psychiatrist; we’d talk to someone on how to handle situations and how to cope with the stresses of life and get the pain out.  Social media has made us talk too much, and listen far too little.

The Moral of The Story:

For our jobs some of us are forced to be as open as possible but on our personal accounts it’s our choice.  The world isn’t as safe a place anymore and people need to be much more careful.  You shouldn’t be a fearful hermit, but you also shouldn’t be Shirley Temple.  It takes one identity theft, one bad thing said online, or one sleazy picture to ruin a reputation and cause years of headaches.  Sorry Steve Zuckerberg, Apple, Google & Yahoo; I’m not trusting you any more.  Learn from my mistakes friends; I always make them before everyone else does.

 

“The One Thing That Will Keep the Raider Nation Together During This Emotional Season”

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1619746154914188/

https://www.facebook.com/RaidersHomeport?fref=ts

Please feel free to join either one of these two great groups!

in memory of all the Raider fans we’ve lost this year including Yvonne Esquibel Avalos.  Be good to each other; God’s Peace. 

“The One Thing That Will Keep the Raider Nation Together During This Emotional Season”

One thing is needed to keep the Raider Nation together during this upcoming crazy year.  We’ll get to that later though.  It was nice taking a break but it’s time to gradually get back into the race.  I hope everyone’s summer is going well. Things are copacetic with me and I’m having a good time in life.

I would like to give a quick thank you to all of you for your support in reading my items on different websites, social media and on wordpress. When I came back last February, I couldn’t imagine that the support would be this great. I have a total of 42,000 twitter followers (30k in sports; 12k for politics) and some of my items and articles (and your comments) are read by people from 26 different countries.   From celebrities to famous athletes to politicians to regular people like you and I; I have some of the best people on the internet following me and I’m very proud of them. I’m really overwhelmed. Thank you again for making your voice be heard and for being such an inspiration to me. No voice is too small.

The reason I said that this would be such a crazy year for Raider fans is pretty obvious. People are Hopeful that this nightmare stretch of bad football is over; the possible move; stadium sagas and rumors, and so much more. Social media; for good or bad; has changed the world forever. It’s like the world magnifying glass that makes everything bigger. Social media can be a great place to express yourself but it has also become, stressful, dramatic, and a haven to show us how crazy things have become in our world and country.

Many Raider fans tell me about some of their interactions with some very interesting people online. Some are nice, some are angry and some you can’t make up.

For 2 1/2 years I’ve been writing a book on my communications with people online. I will finish it this winter.   Some I’ve gone out with, some I’ve done business with, and a few I’ve called the cops on. I never knew the internet could be this way with so many troubled people.

I was listening to a radio psychologist who was explaining the three types of social media posters. There are the pretty much normal people who may go off on a tangent occasionally but for the most part are pretty level headed. There is the bully that can’t say two words without an F bomb and who usually start responses with an insult or an attack. And there is the victim that can find you disrespecting them in anything you say including complements. He said unfortunately the latter two groups are growing.

I stopped writing a couple of years ago and was just kind of done with social media because of this nonsense. I’m a very private person but people told me to be much more open and available to people. They told me to be an open book with my photos, life and work. My girlfriend at the time and I would share our lives.

I began writing for about.com, ehow, medical sites and various sports sites. Things were flowing. I also was a regular on 2 radio shows. I was a regular emailer to Gary Radnich’s show on KNBR and he called me the best and smartest emailer their show had. I would call twice a year to say hi and like Gary said, he made me. I also started a dating blog talking about the insane people and world of dating as well as politics. Bad idea. Gary once told me, “act like you don’t know something sometimes and people will like you more”. LOL He was right! Wow. I never thought it would get so bad.

Try going home at 11:30 pm and seeing a stranger there at your door step who wants to “talk to you” about what you wrote, or a nice girl you just met online is in your office making a scene because you don’t want to see her and she loses her temper & shows extreme emotional issues. Or come out to your car and have it keyed with **** you, niners baby! The best was a tea party person who said I was lower than dirt commie scum and he needed to eliminate me. I called the cops, deleted all my accounts, and disappeared.

We talk about it often in the medical field. How people have become so out of control emotionally and how disturbed and scary they are. Everyday people are finally getting what we’ve been saying by their interactions online with people.  Many online and in our lives can’t argue properly or they can’t handle conflict without losing it.   Some people we interact with we won’t even be alone with. I’ve actually had a couple people; from information on my old social media accounts; come to my house to “talk”.

I say all this because my hopes are that we all learn that one thing that we need to be is civil. No one should ever feel uncomfortable.  We’re supposed to be looked up to by our kids and families and we are supposed to be adults. It’s ok to argue or disagree and part as friends, but it’s not ok to be abusive, psycho, or overly sensitive acting like the world is against us.  Save the drama for reality shows, not online interactions.  Class is becoming very rare in our society.  If skinny Justin Timberlake can bring sexy back, we can bring having class back.

Lets be real; even bad people think they are good and rarely wrong and even bad people can be nice sometimes. Some can easily forgive themselves for hurting you, but they will hunt you down and kill you for any slight they think you have done to them. We talk about it often. It doesn’t matter how rich, famous, handsome or cute they are. It’s what’s inside that really matters.  Our society can be very shallow; but lets not us be shallow too.

That One Thing to Bring Unity:

I spoke at a business meeting recently and during a Q & A I was asked If I could give the business world one thing, what would it be. Many thought I’d say 3-D printers, or something else.  I told the gentleman I’d give the world and business one thing; a Conscious.

To have a conscious is to read the room. You are sensitive and aware of the people around you. The minute you don’t have a conscious, you then lose the ability to communicate or argue in a healthy manner. Without a conscious you think you are better than someone else, and if you think you are better; smarter; better looking; stronger; or whatever; then you lose all ability to reason. If you think you are better than someone else you also lose all compassion for them and the ability to really hear them. Wars have been caused many times for a lack of conscious.

Anyone can communicate well when you agree or when you are complimenting each other, but real communication comes when you disagree. That’s when maturity, spirit, humbleness and knowledge takes over. And if someone lacks those things, the outcome won’t be a good one.

My hope for all Raider fans is to have a conscious this year. We don’t know where the Raiders will be playing, but be a part of the team. Be sensitive to how people feel, and if you haven’t grown up in Oakland for God’s sake stop telling them how to feel. It’s like telling a woman, “pfft; that child birth thing doesn’t look so hard”, or a non pet person telling a pet owner, “It’s just a dog, my God stop treating it like it’s a part of the family”. I don’t care if you are 16 or 46, if you didn’t experience something than it’s the ultimate sign of immaturity and ignorance to tell other people how to feel.

And Oakland fans I feel your pain but remember most Raider fans are cool.   I know that there has never been a city in any sport, in any part of the world that has lost their team twice, but don’t take it out on non Oakland fans. Oh sure there are jerks that will say nasty things, but don’t let them get to you. Life is too short to let petty squabbling ruin you.

Remember; have a conscious whenever you post online. Here’s to a successful year on the field, and to a civil one off of it.   One team; one family.