John Galt Presents: PC Is Out BS Is Still In</font>

This is is just a short blurb response to Stickman's Christmas Message. If you haven't had the chance to read this yet -- please click the link in blue. This link is on his main page and if you're not looking for it, you may have missed it.

I don't want to belabor long on this message. I just have a few short things to say....

2006 has been a busy year for me personally. The weight of keeping the site going finally became too much and when the opportunity came to take a break, I seized it. I had been advised to take a break not so long ago. I was burning out on the site and the break has been much needed.

This was a funny line. When all hell broke loose on November 2nd when I published the "Banana Girl" article and you would have thought Stickman was going down kicking and screaming.

I published some jokes about the co-workers and mentioned 4 letter (the initials) from his school and he pulled his site down. I backed off, he put his site back up. I resumed the pressure, he took down 1/2 of the site and then a few weeks later put everything back up except for the weekly column.

So, what is this bullshit about needing to take a break. Yes, I guess he was over-loaded and he was letting a handful of others take over the content and that got him in trouble (when I say trouble, I mean that his ghost writers were taking questionable liberties with content - and I called him down on it).

In my mind the weight he struggles with is the pressure that will come to bear when his employers (Stickman is an English teacher at an up scale school) are going to pitch a fit when find out what has been going on - and still goes on - behind their backs. In the west, a teacher operating a web site is not a big deal, but here in Thailand teachers are forbidden from doing anything else accept what is written on their work permits. (personally, I think this is very unfair, but schools like to keep total control of their teachers and then screw them around with extra duties, etc.)

I would believe that this is a heavy weight indeed. Troubling that Stickman doesn't believe in the value of his site to commit to it full time and run it legitimately. If I got this wrong, if it is legitimate -- Stickman should be forthcoming in declaring that StickmanBangkok.com it is running legally in Thailand as an entity that takes in money.

Not a day goes past when I'm asked when the site will return to its former glory. I am enjoying the break, enjoying the cool season and more than anything, I am enjoying having Sunday away from the site with the opportunity to do exactly what I want. I've been spending time floating around the countryside, me, the camera, the Mrs., photographing all and sundry before searching for a riverside restaurant to enjoy a nice lunch while reading the Sunday papers. It has been such a nice break, very much needed. This is what the cool season was made for, relaxing days in the countryside.

Man, I think he just stopped short of thanking me. And here I was taking a bashing from all his bar stool readers about the evil that I had perpetrated against Stickman (Paul Owens) for publishing his identity.

There are major changes underway at Stickmanbangkok.com and I cannot divulge too much at this stage, suffice to say that the site will take on a new look, there will be new personnel, some old sections will return and some new sections will appear.

Let's cut through the bullshit here. There is only one section missing so this means the Weekly. So the weekly (or a duel weekly) Column(s) will be present in the new Stickman evolution. But, my guess is that Stickman won't be in charge of the weeklys anymore. Or, he may still write the basic column but others will be taking responsibility for the weekly(ies) and write the NNL news pieces. That is my guess.

Special thanks go out to the many people who have helped this site develop into what it is today. Thanks go out to, but are certainly not limited to - Dave The Rave, Mr. Write, Claymore, Bangkok Barry, Dana, Frank Visakay, BKKSW, Lecter, BKK Grasshopper, all at Pattayasecrets.com, all the readers' submission writers, all site sponsors, and the huge numbers of people who have, in one way or another, contributed to this site. This site has been a huge collective effort.

Evidently Stickman read my article last week. The previously identified "Open Secret" of all the others who did most of the work on the weekly is now a "Non-Secret". Stickman for quite a while has been publishing comments from others and calling them his own. He has been perpetrating a scam on his readership. His "one man's opinion" has been a complete and utter lie. He is a cheat to his community.

And now he is looking for a soft segue into what will become his new organization. Stick keeps running around doing damage control on his image.

He let the weekly column run amok and now he is trying not to loose face. Ok, ok... blah blah blah. Nuff said on that.

If you ask me, I would guess that he is too scared to venture out into an honest Thai business and will continue to hide behind his teaching job for safety and comfort.

Despite our grumbling, sensibility reigns supreme in Thailand and none of the PC nonsense that is ruining the Western world, yes, ruining it, is pervasive here. Long may that remain!

Yes, indeed, Thailand may not be faced with the need for Political Correctness in and around it's society in general, but it seems that BS is fully flourishing here. That's right, Stickman is the champion of telling you exactly what he thinks you should reading at his site.

He is a man of that hides the truth to take advantage of your lack of information.

I strongly disagree with is anyone beguiling people with lies, and all along you claiming that you're a friend of the people. That is a lack of integrity. That is my gripe about Stickman. I personally don't mind that he is teaching children and still a part of the naught night life. What would be a gripe is if he is passing on a bad example to the kids because he has little integrity. That would be a shame.

Here is just one email that I have received that touches on the subject of integrity concerning Stickman:

I have been following your dealings with Paul Owen with interest. It's startling how quickly it's all come crashing down for him. I have to say that I did enjoy the readers submissions part of his site and I will miss knowing the conclusions to some of the stories. The 'stickman comments' though were just arrogant and opinionated. I did have cause to 'employ' his services a while back and the report I received was both false and misleading. I actually contacted him to express my concern that he was meddling with other peoples lives and he had a duty to be honest. I was lucky in that I was able to repair the damage he had caused, I think other people may not have been so lucky.

I can assure you readers that Stickman doesn't give a shit about how his actions affect the lives of those he deals with through his web business. To Stickman, he is milking his web publishing for money. Oh, he'll apologize to you (when he gets caught f'ing around with customers), but in stone cold hard truth of it is - you're just a dollar to him.

This is Thailand and scams abound here. Keep your senses about yourself don't know send money here to anyone you don't know well. Don't send money to Stickman for services and be very skeptical of the company he keeps on his web site. Birds of a feather flock together.

If you are waiting anxiously for the new incarnation of the StickmanBangkok site, all I can say is that I expect we are going to see the same false, questionable, bullshit. I'm not going to make this my life's work, but I think for now, I'll keep presenting my viewpoint of the material to add some balance to that site's influence inside the farang world of Thailand.

But you know what I say -- don't believe me and don't believe anyone just because you read it here on the web. Go with a Thai example. The Thai people are the first to ignore news and reporting. They are quite accustomed to hearing bullshit here in Thailand. Remember the report a few months back about the near bombing of the former PM Thaksin? When polled, many Thais didn't believe it as real news. They thought it was a ploy by Thaksin to gain sympathy from the public. The Thais are quick to dismiss words and print here. Unfortunately this can be common here in Asia so be very careful what you believe.