The Racial Conundrum

One reason often cited by some to justify racial profiling is that non-whites are more likely to break the law because they form the largest percentage of prison inmates.

The counterpunch to this tired logic is that non-whites are disproportionately represented in our penitentiaries as a result of racial profiling in the first place. If whites which represent about 72 percent of the US populution are profiled as much as others, the numbers would probably be different.

Put differently, if non-white citizens enjoy the same type of treatment as white counterparts, their inmate population would decline, and with it would go the usual argument of "propensity to commit crime" often used against those profiled.

There is no gain-saying the fact that those who are more likely to be searched and arrested would form the largest chunk of prison inmates. If a non-white is searched merely beacuse he is not white and in the process illegal substances are found on him, he would be arrested - not because he is not white, but because of his possession of such illegal substances. On the other hand, if similar substances were in the possession of a white citizen, because he is less likely to be searched, he might never be arrested for the same crime. Whites are not less likely to commit crimes; they are merely less likely to be arrested even if the same actions would necessarily lead to the arrest of non-whites.

It thus begs the question why anyone would be surprised at the high level of crime among non-white population, and especially in non-white communities. It is racial profiling, stupid!

Advertising and Free Will

I think the concept of forced advertising is gradually creeping into the Internet, and it shouldn't be tolerated. This concept is the reason many viewers are abandoning television for online entertainment options. To rely on the same strategy that online users despise is to betray advertisers' myopic perception about what their online audience really want which in turn contributes to their inability to distinguish the differences between TV and Internet advertising.

Traffic online is driven by individual choice. An Internet audience looks for a website with specific information, finds numerous ads on the website, and then chooses the ads to click on; the ads, in the process, are guaranteed subsequent repeated hits by this unique and issue-specific audience. This strategy is based on the concept of freedom and on the idea that the audience is the one that can be best trusted to determine and choose what she wants for herself. The effectiveness of this method of advertising underlies the success of Internet advertising on such sites as Yahoo, Google, or YouTube etc.

If I am watching TV and an ad comes on, there's no guarantee that I'll sit back and watch it. I might do one of several things; I might watch it, mute it, switch channels for the duration, or simply just choose not to watch TV all together. What I have come to realize is TV advertising, which relies on forcing the audience to watch a commercial, is a nuisance. Traditional online advertising on the other hand, which gives the audience freedom to click on the ads they want is more effective and less repugnant.

For instance, I love Msnbc.com and enjoy the commentaries of their political commentators, but the fact that I have to be forced to wait 15 to 30 seconds to watch a video is a real drag for me. Even more irritating is the way the videos are cut (less than 2 minutes in some cases) so as to make room for more ads. Cnn.com on the other hand, in my opinion has the best web ad strategy. I have the option to elect watching an ad before watching a video clip or simply skip the ad and move right on to my video. That is how Internet advertising should be. If your ad is good enough, people will watch it, no matter what, but when you force them to watch it, you stand the risk of losing your audience.

When a society, whose paramount ideals are free will and free choice, relies on force in driving sales, only one conclusion can be reasonably contemplated - audience backlash. Make no mistakes about it, it happened to television, it could also happen to the Internet.

Obama's Exhortation

"With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come,let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations" - President Barack .H. Obama's first Inaugural speech.