I apologize to Sony

I apologize to Sony for mistakenly identifying it as the maker of XBOX in my last blog post (There Are Some Roles That Need To Be Turned Down).  In my disgust for Kobe Bryant's part in it, I mistakenly noted Sony as the maker and not Microsoft. So the line should read in the last post that the Microsoft and Activision Publishing, Inc. execs ought to be ashamed for the Call of Duty ad and the message it sends. Again I say, really take a look at that ad with the young girl and the machine gun and again my apologies to Sony.

There Are Some Roles that Need to be Turned Down (Revised to reflect accurate company Activision Publishing Inc.)

Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel shooting a machine gun and bazooka; Magic Johnson, Troy Aikman and Hulk Hogan peddling Rent-A-Center; Carl Weathers acting like a clown with a Bud Light Playbook; and I am sure the list goes on and on.
I truly understand the need for work and residuals by entertainers, however, these are well known celebrities who I am sure could have turned the aforementioned roles down. Kobe, Jimmy and Troy are still active in their respective professions with Magic and Carl more in the backgrounds.

The issue I have with their particular involvement in these ads are the fact that they are detrimental, especially the Kimmel and Bryant ad for Activision Publishing, Inc's XBOX game Call of Duty. What really caught my eye beyond Kobe’s involvement was the scene with the very young girl firing away with an Oozie Machine Gun. Kobe is also seen firing away with the Oozie and Jimmy Kimmel has a bazooka. Absolutely ridiculous!!!! Shame on Activision Publishing Inc's ad agency folks and the Activision Publishing Inc. execs for approving the content of that advertisement. We won’t even get into the Call of Duty game itself. That’s another blog post.  In truth, I am disgusted with Kobe for being involved in this non-sense especially given the increasing murder rates in our African American communities.

Now folks, come on……… our murder rates are rising in urban areas and we are going to show a Kobe Bryant firing an Oozie. Does that make sense to you? If it does, we are worse off than I thought. Next time the Call of Duty ad is played, take a good look at it. See beyond the “game.” What message is Kobe and Jimmy sending? I know many of you would say “None.” Many of you would say, “There he is thinking too deep again.” But think about it….am I? With murder rates in cities like Paterson and Newark, New Jersey on the rise by our children and teenagers, no one stops to think that there is a connection? Only one of the hottest basketball players of our time making it look like it is alright to be shooting and killing. Come on. We have got to do better than that.

In terms of Rent-A-Center, that is one of the worst deals anyone can make. Over the long haul the “renter” has paid over and over again for something that could have been purchased at a much less expensive price than what will be paid over the life of the rental agreement. The “renter” would be better off to save for the “big screen TV” or furniture or perhaps use a lay away plan. The worst thing one could do is to get into an agreement with Rent-A-Center, yet here we have names such as Magic Johnson, Troy Aikman and Hulk Hogan singing the praises of Rent-A-Center advocating our going there to quickly rent our entertainment and furniture needs. Like Kobe, Magic Johnson of all people ought to know how their involvement is impacting the African American communities. I am sure Sony and Rent-A-Center are very much aware hence their being selected to be a part of the advertising campaigns. Mr. Aikman and Hulk Hogan are no better. So when we critically think about this, we have to see that sometimes there are roles that need to be turned down based on what the company is marketing and to whom. The last thing kids need to see is Kobe Bryant squeezing off rounds from and Oozie. The last thing disenfranchised folks need to see is Troy Aikman or Hulk Hogan steering them towards deals that everyone knows is even more costly in the long run. Who is pimping who?

I have much respect for entertainers such as Angela Bassett, Morgan Freeman, Danny Glover, Bill Cosby, etc. who will not take roles that will be detrimental to themselves or the communities they serve. They place their self-respect and the respect of their support base above the proverbial “Almighty Dollar.”  They do not allow themselves to be pimped. As always I welcome your thoughts and commentary.

You Know It When You See It – Kudos to Cuban Pete’s Restaurant in Montclair, NJ

Sometimes it seems as if good to great customer service went the way of the dinosaur; yet every now and again you see a glimmer of what good to great customer service looks like and more importantly feel like. I had such an experience this past Friday night.

Earlier on Friday two of my co-workers recommended that I go to a restaurant establishment in Montclair, NJ known as Cuban Pete’s. They both spoke highly of the food and forewarned me that it could get crowded. True to their description, the restaurant was indeed standing room only. My wife Yvette and I proceeded to find out how long the wait would be and was told by the maitre d' that it would be a forty five minute wait. Based on the number of people standing around, forty five minutes seemed to be reasonable, so we decided to wait. We patiently waited and waited and waited without our names being called to be seated. In the mean time we witnessed couples who had entered after us be seated in a relatively short period of time. The owner asked why we were still waiting and we told him that we had not been called as of yet. He then checked the list and as it turns out an oversight had occurred and our names were skipped as the maitre d'  had continued to move forward, in fact she was on the next page. This is where the great customer service came in. The owner of Cuban Pete’s felt so terrible that he told me and my wife that our dinner would be on him. He said that he would pick up the tab for our having to wait longer than we were told because of the oversight of the maitre d'.

It was an extremely wise business move and great customer service gesture. While it cost him sixty dollars for the meal, it brought him much more in public relations and word of mouth. He had the business insight to know that we would share our bad experience and drive customers away instead of recommending his establishment as I am now doing as evidenced by this blog post. I am indeed sharing my wonderful experience with others who I highly recommend to patronize Cuban Pete’s at 428 Bloomfield Avenue in Montclair, NJ. The food was as excellent as promised by my co-workers. I had the Red Snapper and it was so good. While I was thanking the owner for his generosity, he extended his generosity even more with a fifty dollar gift certificate for a future visit. He was a man of principle. Yvette and I could truly feel his sincerity and he apologized profusely for the error and our extended wait. In these times, gestures like that are rare but when you think about it, it makes extremely good business sense.

Certainly good customer service is so badly needed and desired that when it is experienced it is acknowledged almost with disbelief ("I can't believe I just received great customer service"). My fraternity brother Herman “Skip” Mason who is the General President of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., via Twitter posted “Shout out to Detroit Marriott Room service for prompt service! Healthy breakfast turkey sausage, egg whites, fruit and wheat toast. Pardon me...” Once again because good customer service is so rare, the need was felt to acknowledge it. Good customer service ought to be the rule and not the exception. Kudos to the owner of Cuban Pete’s for his principles, sincerity and good business sense. If you are in the Montclair, New Jersey area I encourage you to dine at Cuban Pete’s- 428 Bloomfield Avenue - Montclair, NJ. (973)746-1100/ (973)746-2100. My wife and I will certainly be going back.

We Keep Getting the Wake Up Calls But Are We Ever Going to Wake Up?

As I was watching the news last night I heard at least three stories that the news anchors described as “Wake Up Calls” and of course my critical thinking skills kicked in and asked the question, if we are receiving all of these “wake up calls,” when are we going to wake up? It begs the further question, are we ever going to wake up? Each passing tragedy and horrific event serves as a metaphorical alarm, and yet we seem to keep hitting the metaphorical snooze button. Poverty is at a record high; college students are being murdered just by being at a party; a college freshman commits suicide as a result of an invasion of his privacy; Osama Bin Laden can send audio and video tapes at will (without our technology being able to track him), and we have pastors and priests who cannot keep their hands off of young men (not to mention the one who wanted to burn the Quran). It’s as if we are all asleep and the wake up calls keeps coming and we keep refusing to wake up. We can be likened to Rip Van Winkle or the Disciples who could not stay awake when Jesus went to pray even after He gave them a wake up call.


If we do not wake up soon, we won’t have to worry about waking up as we will just drift or be forced into that eternal sleep. People are getting killed senselessly on a daily basis; our politicians do very little other than bicker and see who can find the most dirt on the other; and for the most part the church is perceived as being relatively quiet. The phrase “wake up call” is used so frequently that at this point it really is like the alarm going off every 10 minutes and one rolling over and hitting the snooze button each time it sounds off then falling back to sleep for another 10 minutes. As a world and a country we cannot afford to keep ignoring the wake up calls that we keep receiving. If we continue to do this, we will not only be asleep but we will continue to live a nightmare. As always, I welcome your thoughts.

I Know What Prayer Can Do

While watching the University of Alabama Crimson Tide take on the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, I was struck by how the stadium was filled to capacity with fans wearing red. As both teams have red and white in their uniform colors, fans came to the game in red to support their respective teams. Interestingly enough, from an aerial view the stadium actually looked like empty red seats from above when in actuality it was fans donning red shirts. The thought that came to my mind was how amazing it was that we can fill a stadium to capacity about something that really doesn’t matter and yet if this same crowd were asked to fill that same stadium to pray or come together to do something that would really have an impact on the world, my guess is it would indeed be empty red seats that I would be looking at instead of a stadium filled to capacity with red shirts.

As I watched this sea of red shirts my mind went back to the time immediately following September 11, 2001 aka 9-11 when Yankee Stadium was filled to capacity with people of all religions and faiths coming together in a multi-denominational healing/prayer service to pray. Oddly enough, I have not seen an effort like this since September 2001. Gospel artist Neal Roberson sings a moving rendition of the song “I Know What Prayer Can Do,” and I agree with him and wonder why we as a nation do not come together in stadiums around the country and hold prayer services like the one held after 9/11. If I recall in that gathering were Reverends, Bishops, Priests, Rabbis, Archbishops, Ministers, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Pastors, Elders, Overseers, etc. etc. etc. Your religious belief or faith did not matter. We were all united as one by the horrendous acts of a few; united as one by the three thousand plus lives that were lost.

It’s amazing how we all recognized the need for a multi-denominational healing/prayer service during that disaster and seemingly have not held a session like it since. (At least not to my knowledge.) Given the state of the world today, wouldn’t it beg the question of why we do not hold more prayer sessions in large venues like athletic stadiums around the United States? Wouldn’t it be something to fill a stadium full of red shirts not for a football game, but to petition God to really bless America. Every president closes his speech with “God Bless America,” (which I personally think is selfish. Why not ask God to Bless the World?) and yet we don’t do anything as America to seek God (I am well aware of the separation of Church and State). Interestingly enough when you think back to September 2001, the separation of Church and State didn’t seem to matter at that multi-denominational healing/prayer service. Oh well what does this Critical Thinker know? I trust it won’t take another disaster like 9/11 for us to realize what prayer can do. I welcome your feedback in the comment section.

Be Careful Who You Call Pastor

“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” Matthew 24:11 (KJV)


Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Jeremiah 23:1 (KJV)

And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Jeremiah 3:15 (KJV)

Ironically I start this edition of The Critical Thinker quoting from the Bible given the impetus of the post being the threatened Koran/Quran burning by Terry Jones, a Gainesville, Florida “pastor.” I place the word pastor in quotations because my goal was to not draw any more attention to Mr. Jones than need be and at the same time help us to understand that we really must be careful who we follow and call pastor. As a result of Mr. Jones’ threat to burn Qurans on the anniversary of 9/11, several news agencies investigated his history and allegedly, Mr. Jones is a Jim Jones wannabee. James Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 death of more than 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the deaths of five other people at a nearby airstrip in Georgetown, Guyana.

If we were to look in the dictionary to define pastor, it states as follows:

1. (noun) pastor - a shepherd; one who has the care of flocks and herds
2. (noun) pastor - a guardian; a keeper; specifically (Eccl.), a minister having the charge of a church and parish

Now let’s juxtapose our dictionary definitions with the Biblical passages I quoted above. In Jeremiah 3:15 God says that He will give us pastors according to His heart which are to feed us with knowledge and understanding. God also said in Jeremiah 23:1 that there will be woe unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep in my pasture. According to news reports Mr. Jones had 50 plus members in his church in Gainesville and 30 of them scattered upon learning of his idea to have a Quran burning day. I don't know about you but I have yet to see the knowledge or the understanding that any of us would get from burning the Quran, the central religious verbal text of Islam,

Let’s face it, there are preachers, pastors, ministers, etc.who are truly “sent,” and there are others who just “went.”  There is a difference. We must be very careful who we allow to have spiritual charge over our lives. It could cost you your spiritual and your physical life. Ask the 900 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana. Everyone who hangs out the shingle with the title “pastor” is not a pastor. As Matthew 24:11 makes clear to us many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. Please do not become one of the many who will be deceived. Pray for discernment because the life you save may be your own.  Something to critically think about and as always I welcome your commentary.

Parents Please Make Sure Your Children Behave On The School Bus

In accordance with state law, N.J.S.A. 18A:39-1, all public elementary school students (grades K-8) who live more than two miles from their school and all public secondary school students (grades 9-12) who live more than two-and-a-half miles from their school are entitled to transportation. These students are said to live “remote from school.” Whenever a school district is required to provide transportation to students attending regular public school programs, students attending nonpublic schools who meet those distance requirements may also be entitled to transportation services. In addition, any student classified with special needs who either meets these distance requirements or for whom transportation is required in the student’s Individual Education Plan must be transported.


While this is the law, it is a great enabler of horrible behavior on our school buses. If a child refuses to behave properly on the bus, we ought to be able to remove that child from the bus and hold the parent(s) accountable and responsible for getting their children (who refuse to behave on the bus) to school. I have witnessed students on these buses; running; throwing things out of the windows; spitting out of the windows; fighting on the bus; hitting the bus aide; jumping up and down on the seats; etc, etc. etc. and all of this is while the bus is in motion. Parents please help your children understand the importance of their behavior when they are traveling to and from school on their school bus.

Most (if not all) of our students are operating under the mindset that it cannot happen to them with the “it” being a fatal school bus accident, when in reality it can indeed happen. Children who are doing anything on the bus other than sitting and talking quietly become a distraction to the bus driver thereby increasing his/her likelihood of becoming involved in an accident. The following link provides traffic safety facts through 2008
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811165.PDF. It can happen to you.

Attorney Mark Bello in his blog The Injury Board BlogNetwork offers the following tips for safety when riding a school bus that I agree with:

1. When you see the bus coming, line up about ten feet from the curb. Wait until the bus comes to a complete stop and the driver advises it is safe to board. The driver is the only one who can view all traffic on the road.

2. If you must cross the street to board the bus, wait for the bus to come to a complete stop and for the driver to flash the red lights; look both ways before you cross.

3. Once aboard, listen to the driver; don’t rush or push others out of the way.,

4. Behave on the bus; do not do things that will distract the driver. Some examples:

■Stay in your seat

■Keep the noise level down

■Keep head, hands, and feet inside the bus

■Don’t throw things inside the bus or out the windows

■Keep the bus clean

■Cooperate with the driver; always follow his or her instructions

■Stay out of the ‘Danger Zone’–anywhere within 10 feet of the bus

■Don’t try to stop a moving bus to retrieve something you forgot.

■Don’t try to pick up something that you dropped underneath the bus.

If our children follow these guidelines, it will go a long way towards ensuring safe passage between home and school and school and home. Again, I ask parents to speak with their children and require them to behave on the school bus. Their life and other lives are at risk when they do not. As the old saying goes, “The life you save may be your own.”