Arkansas Blog

"We need to concentrate on making AYPN a MACHINE ... indestructible by common men!"

Ah. The testosterone of youth, a 1000 Year Reich in the making. Just rollover those common people.
Yip, sounds pretty Jaycee-Rethuglican.

The Arkansas Young Professionals Network... what a bunch of maroons!

If AYPN wants to "control the news cycle", they've got the right partners - a mind-control cult.

Yikes! These cavemen need to be transported back to their own era. My momma always told me to be weary of sexist pigs. Oink, boys, oink.

This is why, even when I was a young professional, I never joined or attended any of their events. Isn't their main fundraiser a black-tie gala? What a bunch of douchebags.

"The notes also mention plans for a coming JP race by another Republican member of the e-mail group, William Porterfield, AYPN's current executive director."

Which JP race?

So no response from these young men? Wow. Looks like a "good young boys" club as opposed to a "good ol' boys" club just got exposed!Looks like we have some lessons to teach this younger generation about sexism and power....

Jeez, you leave the house for a little while, no telling what rears its ugly head. I should stay home more.

Wow! AYPN used to be an organization that was great for networking and meeting people. What sexist jerks... they will learn in time that women are just as valuable. What do their wives/girlfriends think about this?

AYPN Board of Advisors from the AYPN website. I'll bet they are proud of their association with this group.

The Board of Advisors is made up of respected business and community leaders throughout the state who are making a difference in the growth of Arkansas . These professionals serve as guest speakers periodically throughout the year, as well as mentors for AYPN members. The following are the organization's 2007 Board of Advisors.

Honorary Chairman:
Paul Harvel, President of Arkansas State Chamber of Commerce

Millie Ward, President of Stone Ward
Bruce Burrow, Principal of MBC Holdings, LLC.
Bill Holder, Cheif Information Officer of Dillard's Inc.
Lu Hardin, President of the University of Central Arkansas
Joel Anderson, Chancellor of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock
Sharon Priest, Director of The Downtown Partnership
Skip Rutherford, Dean of the University of Arkansas Clinton School
Bruce Moore, Little Rock City Manager
Bob Birch, President and CEO of Twin City Bank
Jimmy Moses - Founder of Moses Tucker Real Estate
Jim Dailey - Former Little Rock Mayor
Jay Chesshir - President / CEO Little Rock Chamber of Commerce
Ed Drilling - President of AT&T

Hey girl. they're republican women, so they think exactly what their father or husband/boyfriend tell them to. just like good women should ;)

So, is there a way for the members of this group to remove these jerks? Also, what does the Republican Party leadership think about this? Are they going to stand by their JP candidate? We still didn't get an answer on what seat Mr. Porterfield is running for.

UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!!!

Who do these guys work for? Do they not have mothers, sisters, wives, girlfriends or HR departments who can give them a swift and hearty kick in the rear??

Who knew AYPN was a front for the Young Republicans? Are all members of this group republican?

I am SO glad I never joined this group - now I don't have to resign my membership.

I can't speak for my company, but I won't be shelling out any of my time or money to support this group as long as Porterfield is an officer.

Pitiful!

So one snide comment in a private email from one unnamed officer makes the entire group a sexist, good-ole-boy's club? Hardly.

Is everyone in this group ( and yes, I'm a long term member and former director ) now automatically a sexist, caveman ? Don't think so.

Do some certain officers need to make some public apologies to mend fences ? No doubt.

Does AYPN need to re-assure its members and supporters that it is a non-partisan organization that does not discriminate on the basis of gender or political affiliation ? Absolutely

As an outspoken liberal non-good ole boy - I can say without hesitation that AYPN is a politically diverse group in which there is there is plenty of room for both hard-core republicans and democrats. AYPN has donated thousands of dollars and hundreds of volunteer hours to a wide range of causes including the Zoo, Our House, THEA Foundation, and many others. While these emails might be inappropriate and obviously extremely embarassing - they in no way reflect attitude of the group as a whole.

hoglawyer
hoglawyer@gmail.com

Hoglawyer,

It sure smells like the AYPN is a front organization for the young republicans. I seem to remember more leadership spillover in the past years between the two organizations.

I believe this blog discussed 2 or 3 snide comments.

As my mom always says...where there is smoke, there is usually fire...

Spillover???

Can you say audit?

Hoglawyer:

Would you or any of your Democratic co-horts challenge these boys for misrepresenting the organization? Can these boys be removed from office? As a feminist and a mom of a boy it troubles me to see young men behaving this way. There should be some type of dialog or healing process for all of this where real education of differing perspectives can take place and hurt feelings can be calmed. It appears as though these conversations were had in private and while it's true that what's said in the "locker room" is the way people really are, I would think these boys are probably pretty embarrased and upset over this and might even want to apologize for their behavior. If that's the case, I would encourage you to reach-out to them and let the healing begin.

I bet some of these idiots also ran student governments at colleges around the state.

As a long time member of AYPN who has also served in a leadership role, all this saddens me! I have never felt sexism as a female in this organization nor have I felt that this organization was used as political, republican, springboard. If I had, I can gurantee you I would have never joined and been so involved! I do feel that YR election is a SEPERATE issue with current and past AYPN officers involved but has NOTHING to do with AYPN. Many of us in AYPN are in many other young professional groups and sometimes conflicts arise in committees or running for leadership roles, however, as a young professional I would think we would handle things 'professionally' and not take things 'personally'! As a member of AYPN do I have some gripes about certian leadership decisions made this year, yes, but I had some gripes about some decisions made last year too when we had a predominately female board of directors. Isn't that just part of it? For me, AYPN has offered the type of experience I needed to advance my career and along the way I have met a lot of GREAT people, male and female; republican and democrat! Don't trash AYPN for what you may view is a few bad apples. This organization has a great mission and good people that offer themselves volunatarily for the betterment of the community!

PG1:

How do not take it personally when the leadership of an organization openly states let's not "appear" to look sexist so let's appoint a female as a secretary, and oh, while we're at it, let's make sure she's attractive? That's a very personal attack, in my opinion, and one that the women in this organization should be outraged over. This is not an issue over men being in control or women being in control but what those people in control do with the power they have. This incident should be taken personally by not only the women in the organization but by the men in the organization who aren't sexists and who do want what's best for the organization. And I don't see anyone on this blog trashing AYPN as an organization. Quite the opposite: they are trashing the current leadership and rightfully so. If this issue is going to truly be resolved then the problems inherent with the situation must be properly addressed. Otherwise, the members of this organization will turn a blind eye and will continue to promote bad behavior.

"In order to keep people from thinking our organization is discriminatory, we should probably appoint a female to this position. And since we have a choice, she might as well be attractive."

In most progressive firms (as well as those who like to stay out of litigation), the person writing this would probably be fired. I have seen employees fired for saying far less. An apology would be taken for granted but wouldn't make any consequences disappear. It is totally unacceptable.

When there are women fairly represented in management, these attitudes either do not exist or are kept way below the radar.

You cannot say that the person making the statement represents the entire organization, but you can safely conclude that the organization is one in which such statements are tolerated, and even excused, as we see here.

"Do some certain officers need to make some public apologies to mend fences ? No doubt. Does AYPN need to re-assure its members and supporters that it is a non-partisan organization that does not discriminate on the basis of gender or political affiliation ? Absolutely"

Has anyone seen an apology yet? Reassurance?

Isn't Aristotle run by a woman. She must be attractive enough to be considered as a partner for these 'necks.

Seriously, I wonder how she is feeling about partnering with men who are so blatantly sexist.

Guess the value in revenue must be enough to look the other way.

Do you honestly think Max Brantley is not having a field day with this 'internal politics' both in the YRs and AYPN? Of course he is trashing AYPN by discussing maximizing publicity and cautioning us on past Jaycee leadership in comparison. And shame on any AYPN member that leaked inernal communication about the wi-fi project. This is a good thing for AYPN/Aristotle but what's wrong with AYPN wanting to be in the forefront of the media coverage. Any organization would want that and probably have similar 'conversations' behind the scenes. So let's stick the real problem, the sexist comment! That's the email that should have been posted here and all of it in it's entirety. I would like to know the author and yes HE does owe the organization an apology for his comment. But let's not forget that AYPN leadership are VOTED in by all AYPN members (that showed) not decided by some good ole' boy crew as I recall two women ran this year for directors and won and 5 women the year before. It's really unfortunate that the two sides here couldn't have come to some private resolution before AYPN got slung throught the mud. At least Mr. Brantley had some interesting read!

Can't....muster...energy....to care about....internal workings...of douchebag....AYPN organization....must try....

ARK. BLOG: Short version: 1) leader of Young Republicans and AYPN the same. 2) There's a word -- or three -- for people who'd seek money from Clinton Library for self-aggrandizing projects when they're talking ugly about them behind their back..

I think what's going on here is that you've got some old-school leaders (Leslie Rutledge and co.) who are mad that they were voted out and are trying to destroy the organization that kicked their ass to the curb.

How many votes did Leslie get when she ran for re-election as YR President? 6?

If I was her I'd be embarassed; I wouldn't be dragging the organization through the mud on this blog.

But see, this is Leslie's M.O.... Its never about the organization she's "volunteering" for, its always about her. And when the organzation (this time the YRs and/or AYPN) tells her "enough is enough" she decides that its time to attack others in public and hurt an organization she calims to want to lead.

Leslie, if this wasn't about you, you and your pied-piper follower (Yolanda "I need a" Hugg) woudn't be behaving this way.

Is this your party and you can cry if you want to, or is this the adult world where people work for a real cause like wifi downtown to help folks?

Get a life.

What's going on here is that some people seem to think that they are better than others. Leslie Rutledge did not write these derogatory things about women or force these boys to accept help from people while quietly acting to undermine them at the same time.
Furthermore, Rutledge, by your own admission is not in the leadership of either group and would not have been privy to any emails sent by them. I assume they had enough sense not to copy her on these emails. If they did, then they are too dumb to be in charge of a one car parade, more less to be qualified as a professional. Ergo, someone who was on this board made these emails available. I assume it was Hugg or the other women as well.
What is also clear is that Mondo Freaks is one of the people in this little Republican cabal. He obviously knows enough about the current Young Republican leadership that he is aware of the number of votes Rutledge received. It is painfully obvious that the writers of the offending emails are aware of this blog and the comments posted thereon and are trying to do damage control through character assassination. Yet they do not have time to offer an apology to anyone that was offended by the emails.
Leadership, boys, is not attacking others. A professional does not shift blame for their own failures. Regardless of what Rutledge and Hugg feel, they did not put the words in your mouths. You acted on your own and someone found you offensive and then shared with the world what your true colors really were. We are still waiting on that apology. I will not hold by breath.

Dog Henry = Leslie Rutledge.

Her referring to herself and Yo-Yo-landa by last name is a silly attempting at distancing herself from the action.

Its as obvious its her as it is when Pritt writes about himself under another name.

Mondo Freaks:

Leslie being ousted from office is really not the crux of the argument here. The issue at hand is the behavior of a select group of boys who are all trying to manipulate an organization (AYPN) to their benefit. The plotting, purposeful exclusion of women, and general manipulation of a good organziation to meet one's own political needs is unethical and quite frankly, should lead to the removal of these young men from office. I feel sorry for Leslie but I'm really not concerned about her. I'm more concerned that the leadership of a non-partisan young professionals group is being discriminatory and behaving like a fraternity! Again, let's not pretend these boys are victims. We must address sexism and manipulation in organizations, heal from the process, and move forward.

Susan (GnuBlue)-

How was Zac? Have you been to South Carolina to see him?

One of my favorite bands, NOFX has a lyric on point: "You point your fXXn' finger. You racist, you bigot. But that's not the problem. Now is it?"
I'm not Leslie, dude. Don't even know her. But it's a nice attempt to ignore that point that she is in no way responsible for what was in those emails. I guess personal responsibility doesn't apply to Republicans, huh?

I'm one of the people who were unaware of AYPN before yesterday afternoon. The WIFI story should have been an opportunity for AYPN to burnish its public image. Instead, a considerable segment of Little Rock's blog community now sees AYPN as a group dominated by a bunch of unenlightened Republican frat boys. And all of this name calling and character assassination by a few of those unenlightened Republican frat boys is dragging the organization down even more. If there are any adults who still admit they are members of AYPN, they need to take control of this unfortunate debacle and slap the kiddies until they fess up and do the honorable thing. (Yes, someone knows who these jerks are, and the adult will have to explain what the honorable thing is, I suspect.)

Damn this is douche.

My neighborhood assocation voted in a new president, is that newsworthy?

Where's the beef, Brantley?

Some girl ran the YRs so bad that she got beateb in an election by a group of of guys who strategized on how to do it for a year..... Wow! Where's the Breaking News Alert?

Come on, this is so douchey its as if Pritt himself is the victim instead of Yolanda and High Profile-wannabe Leslie.

Peace out, my beer drinking compadres...

"Leadership is not attacking others. A professional does not shift blame for their own failures. Regardless of what Rutledge and Hugg feel, they did not put the words in your mouths. You acted on your own. We are still waiting on that apology."

Well put.

I can't believe folks are slamming Ms. Hugg on this blog. I would have done exactly the same thing and resigned when all this came to light. In fact, last night when I read the news I was thinking that was exactly what the women of AYPN needed to do. A girl's got to stand up for what she believes is right.

I don't have a dog in this fight and I'm thankfully not a member of AYPN because I'd be jumping out of my skin at the stuff I'm reading. However, as a young, professional, female citizen of Little Rock I am absolutely sick that this rag tag group of apparently power hungry, overly-ambitious people have put such a negative light on what from this outsiders view seemed like a fantastic organization that benefited the city of little rock, its people and non-profits throughout the area.

Way to go and many thanks to Aristotle and the City of Little Rock for bringing free wifi to downtown. I wonder how many cities have similar offerings?

But guys, it is time to step up and take personal responsibility for your mistakes. Admit you screwed up so that AYPN and its members can continue to do good works for our city.

We're all watching this soap opera unfold but I'm not holding my breath either.

Hey ICatFowler-

You're a douche. You're the vaginal Drew Pritt.

Leslie is till mannish, and you're still a Mexican.

Neither of you are attractive or important as a result of this.

Happy Friday, and check out LD's freak book at your earlierst convenience. Jeff and McEnroe loved it.

What on God's green earth ARE you talking about?

Hey ICatFowler-

Max will get what I'm saying.

Wassup, Brantley?

>>>>>You're a douche. You're the vaginal Drew Pritt.
Leslie is till mannish, and you're still a Mexican. <<<<<

This is so insane it is made of awesome.

And goody, I was looking for a trainwreck to read tonight and look what I found.
Gotta go pop some popcorn.
I luvs watching little rich boys act like douches.....

Blake Rutherford's blog published this gem from those emails:

"In an e-mail on 2.1.07, Mr. Shelton wrote, "A guy named [name redacted] is on there who lists the ACLU and "progressivism" in his profile, he along with a [name redacted] who I happen to know is a flaming lib, and lists "political activism" on his profile . . .well I just think the two of them (who are both new) need to get lost in the shuffle and not be counted as members or at least not get a renewal notice - just a thought! :-)"

Mr. Boes, on 2.2.07 writes, "Perhaps we could institute an ACLU and/or liberal administrative fee of $75 in addition to the annual $50 to handle items such as frequent whining, blue ink, and [an] abundance of tofu and coos coos [sic] served at the networking luncheons."

Hey Max,

What's with the reference to the Jaycees? You and Blake both mentioned it -- maybe I'm just dense, but I haven't got a clue what you're talking about. What's the story?

This brings to mind the old saw about academic politics: it's so vicious because there's so little at stake.

Yolanda Hugg is Leslie Rutledge's roommate/drinking buddy. Those two were forced out of ARK YR leadership after they did the bus for Huckabee's straw poll. But I find it weird that Randell Shelton was forcing out LR over the Huckabee trip Because RS has been a big huck supporter.

Whoa, now.

I has seen the future and I is worried.

Youth of America used to be on LSD. Now they're off their meds.

I is very worried.

This is so completely awesome.
I was asked to join AYPN some time ago but because I thought they were all douches I passed. Now it has been confirmed that they are douches even though, from what I recall, Leslie Rutledge was kinda hot.
Maybe she isn't, but I'm also pretty she's married. Then all the Huckabus stuff came out and attractive women who vote Republican, suddenly become less attractive.
At least for this have always voted for a Democrat, not one single ballot for a Republican candidate in 18 plus years of voting guy it has.

Trolling around on the blog on a Friday night can be lame. However, this did catch my attention. Just for fun, if any of you want to ask these boys why they are scared of women and obsessed with manipulative power, drop them an email! From the AYPN website:

Executive Director
William Porterfield - wporterfield@aypn.org

Executive Secretary (what kind of name is Buckley anyways?)
Buckley O'Mell- bomell@aypn.org

Operations
Director: Dalton Smith - dsmith@aypn.org

Finance Committee
Director: Stephen Compton- scompton@aypn.org

Community Outreach
Director: Wes Adams -wadams@aypn.org

Economic Development Committee
Director: Randell Shelton- rshelton@aypn.org

Professional Development Committee (is this the only woman left? Someone needs to clue her in!!!! )
Director: Karen Junot- kjunot@aypn.org

Membership Committee
Director: Craig Boes- cboes@aypn.org

Are these young adults the target audience for guest speakers at the Clinton School? If so, I would think the desired effect is working from those who encourage the likes of Yoo, Griffin, Rove, etc. to teach our AR young citizens NOT so well.

To those who resigned with dignity I salute you and your integrity. There are countless other ways to help in our society and it seems like most of life is spent determining who is not helping or just making sure one is truly connected with genuine people..

Nothing says integrity quite like the efforts of those young Republicans who shared their Iowa straw poll experience with the AR Times blog, knowingly to a critical crowd. I applauded it then and I sincerely hope you don't shy away from doing that in the future because of the little minds of your so called friends who would rather ostracize you than level with each other in an open and honest way about their political views. We can vehemently disagree but we should all try to get to basic facts of which our positions are founded upon. That should be the challenge and the goal, imo. and that is what you accomplished, aside from a beer from Max Brantley. *s*

Unfortunately the only unique aspect of this story is how everyone is sharing the information, via the web. Nothing new about these shenanigans.. its how far to many people operate in politics, business, even church. It's sad tale of how AR society works on far to many levels for far to long.

Forgive, move on, but never ever forget, because these little brats want to be your boss and your civic leaders someday and you have a duty with this experience to politely, but factually warn others far into the future or things will never change. It's why things are so screwed up now in the big picture, because generations of people have idly sat by, even encouraged the very behavior that should be scorned for to long.

Crap with sending them emails. They'd just accuse me of being Leslie Rutledge. After that exchange with what appeared to be the neighborhood drunk, I started questioning if maybe I really was Leslie Rutledge. I do get confused about things from time to time. It's sort of like Yossarian getting confused with Washington Irving and Irving Washington. After a while, you don't know what to believe. I went to take a leak just a minute ago and I did it standing up. I'm assuming that means that I am not Leslie Rutledge, so at least I've cleared that little matter up in my mind. I've always found arguing with drunks confusing. It is almost like they are clairvoyant. They figure stuff out so much faster than I do. Like the time a drunk acquaintance informed me that "Freebird" was the ultimate song because it goes from quite and slow to loud and fast, but never stops kicking ass. If not for that sage observation, I would have lived my life not knowing that, because it was always my assumption that "Freebird" was bullocks. I still don't like Freebird much, but know I am no longer ignorant, thanks to one drunk. Before, if a band ever played it, it just was a chance for me to yell "Play some Primus!" Now it is a chance for me to drink enough to understand what he was saying. I might get there at some point if I'd quit passing out.
But anyway, ignoring the exchange with Mustafa Mondo Freaks, I can't see that emailing his Fordship or any of the other Ten World Controllers will have much affect. Maybe if we email the Board of Advisors members, or even better, let the bosses of these fellows know just what their employees believe. If these boys are claiming to be professionals because of what they do, they are using their status as conferred by their positions at companies. This is an extension of their employment, no? If we don't email their bosses, we should at least not do business with their companies. I would hate to think that my money went to help these boys establish their Brave New World.

Crap, why can't I go back and edit this after I post it? I'm too dumb to catch typos before I post. See boys, that is what we call confessing we made a mistake. You want to try?

I'll remember this one as, "the douche thread".

As more of these e-mails leak out, it's clear that these amateurs are too dumb to be involved in politics at any serious level. Their ambition clearly exceeds their intelligence. If they run their businesses the way they run these organizations, they're going to get hit with big lawsuits for discrimination and sexual harassment.

And speaking of "switch-hitters", it's just amusing to see these self-described conservatives in a partnership with a radical-left socialist group. They must be having a good laugh down at the commune (assuming that their leader allows laughter).

But I have to wonder about the ECPA ramifications of publishing these e-mails? It seems risky without good legal advice and clear consent from at least one party to the correspondence.

I don't have a dog in this fight either way but know enough of the people involved to say that Rutledge's trip to Iowa for the Huckster and her submissions to the Arkansas Blog were NOT the reason for her being forced out of the Young Republicans. That may have been cited in the emails but there is a long history there.

ARK. BLOG: Agreed. But the blog posts were ridiculed. For no good reason other than that she had done them. Seemed unfair to me. She wrote upbeat accounts of the Huckabee effort.

Here's another thought on this subject. But what if Max's conclusions that he drew from these emails.dare I question the Great Max?..are totally wrong/irrelevant and this is just another attempt to be divisive and get more hits about a subject that the average Arkansan could careless about. (Which is what good bloggers do, kudos Max!!)

For those who can tone down their thirst for blood long enough to put down their self righteous lynchin' ropes, here is an alternative assessment of these AYPN emails.

A) When a group purposefully plans to include a specific minority group in their organization so as to not appear, and by virtue of that minority group's presence, actually not be sexist/racist/homophobic/etc., that's a progressive practice, called affirmative action. We all like affirmative action don't we?
Then, to take affirmative action even further by trying to include "attractive" people in their election, which is possibly the smallest minority group on earth, could be considered compassionate and commendable. (To quote Bill Cosby, "There are so many cute babies, where do all the ugly people come from?")
B) If the person who acquired these emails is upset at the outcome of a fair election, then they are definitely not ready for the real world of politics. I don't recall there being a Ark-Times article about a AYPN ballot counts or hanging chad...does anyone else?
These guys seem to be amateurishly organized and if they had applied their organization to a real campaign they might be on a talking head show being asked how they did it. Lord knows that we've had to hear how James Carville won Bill Clinton's '92 and '96 elections a few times. (Hey, AYPN the Hillary Campaign needs workers in Arkansas, I know their hiring.)
C) I can't speculate on what Mr. Shelton meant when he said "I don't like typing that," after the Clinton Library comment, but if it was an indicator about his personal political feelings so what!! When a person lays aside their personal views long enough to achieve a goal for the public good, such as this Wi-Fi project, that is called bipartisanship. And we all love bipartisanship. In fact, someone send this guy to Washington, he is already better than the Republicans there now.

In conclusion, I don't know these guys and I don't know the context of their emails, I wager that not many posting on this blog, or even Max, does either, so we should all stop trying to feel better about ourselves by throwing stones at seemingly easy targets and get a real blog discussion on here..like "when is the government going to give me my free healthcare so that I can get rid of these damned hiccups?"

"As more of these e-mails leak out, it's clear that these amateurs are too dumb to be involved in politics at any serious level. Their ambition clearly exceeds their intelligence..."

Ha...George Bush, George Bush, George Bush...how far the GOP has fallen. I can't say that I'm surprised that junior Reputhuglicans are emulating their sexist daddy's.

Thanks Max/Republican yahoos for the fun read!! Almost as good as watching Larry Craig appeal his way through the court system, YUM!

It's a shame that the politics of this project has overshadowed what a free wi-fi network will bring to the downtown area (way to go City of LR and Aristotle!).
However, since politics is the story you have to wonder what action the business leaders on the AYPN board of directors will take. As business owners, CEOs, and city leaders; do you want to be associated with this organization.
WHAT ABOUT THE SPONSORS FOR THE WI-FI PROJECT? Do they even want to be seen on the same webpage as AYPN?

"Since they voted me out as leader I will destroy their little club."- Leslie Rutledge

Hog Lawyer, you of all people should know that sex discrimination is as simple as treating someone less favorably because of their sex. It can be directly or indirectly.
So when they made the comment that there needs to be a good looking female on the board, they were subjecting the female to a condition men were not subjected to; her looks. It is assumed that they were not picking male members based on their looks. As such, their was inequality in the selection process because a protected class was being subjected to standards that others were not being subjected to. A cause of action does exist. You cannot gloss over what they were doing.
As you well know, being "pretty" is not a protected class. Women are a protected class. Thus it is constitutional to promote based on sex, but not on looks. By your own admission, there are fewer "pretty" people. By adding looks as a stipulation, they have reduced the number of females "worthy" to take a position with the board. This stipulition was not the promotion of a normally under represented group known as "attractive people". They applied a different standard to women that had no tangible connection to the function of the position and thus was discriminatory in its application. Sure, their original intent may have been to add women to avoid looking discriminatory, but this very act of "affirmative action" proved to be discriminatory! It is ironic that if they had simply picked a candidate based on merit, they would not have been discriminatory. Instead, they talked about using affirmative action in their choosing process but added stipulations. In any event a man got the position and not a female, which looks as if they found no one to meet their standards. Now, the offending email may have been locker room mail humor and they never seriously used looks as a basis, but that matters little. At this point, the horse is out of the barn and the outcome of the appointing process is known. A woman did not get it. It would be up to the finder of fact to determine if looks were the reason that the women applicants were overlooked.
I'm sorry, if I were taking this case, I would want to be on the plaintiff's side. Looks pretty damning from what we've seen. You are right, we don't know all of what is there but you have seen enough to know that it looks bad.
If I were Mustafa Mondo Freaks and the other World Controllers, I'd be a little worried. There are serious ramifications to discrimination. They would be liable for damages individually. This could hurt their pocket books if an enterprising plaintiff's lawyer to the case. That's okay, Mustafa Mondo seems pretty content to sit here on this blog and spout conspiracy theories and nonsense not connected to anything being discussed. You wonder if maybe this is all a great Fellini movie, and we are not aware. Maybe an audience is watching Mustafa Mondo Freaks as he travels through different women's bodies. His rebellion is releasing his pent up frustration here. Or maybe he just doesn't have any excuse for his actions.
I bet he calls me a douche? What do you wanna bet?
"I have nothing to say to defend my self, so I call people names."-Mustafa Mondo Freaks

Mondo Freak aka Stephen Compton,

I love the way instead of addressing the issue you are choosing to attack the characters of women. The fact of the matter is that the current leadership of AYPN has been accused of being sexist and even rascist and yet no apology has been issued and no statement has been made. I'm appalled at your behavior and yet I'm not surprised. I feel sorry for your wife Jenna who will be pulled into this by association.

As a member of AYPN I'm really disturbed by this turn of events. This organization was founded on embracing diversity, networking with others, giving back to the community and promoting Arkansas. I have made numerous friends through AYPN that I might not have met otherwise. In the whole scheme of things though, AYPN is just a young professional's club. To many, it's not even a blip on their radar. It's sad really the extent to which you all have planned and schemed so that AYPN can be industructible by the common man. That's laughable really, most people reading this blog are saying, "so what" or even, "who cares." And to try to run a few women's name through the mud saying that one of them is even the cause for its demise... insulting. If AYPN goes down its on your hands.

I hope that you boys are proud of yourselves. In your demented minds your plan may have succeeded, but in reality you have instead shown your true colors to the community.

Being no longer considered "young", except maybe by septuagenarians and their elders, I certainly have no dog in this hunt, and I'd never even heard of this organization until this little flap blew open the other day. I've seen enough, though, to form an opinion, which does not include any attribution of "credibility", either to the organization or--especially--to its current "leadership".

What a repulsive cabal of immature, frat-boy bigots. If their behavior somehow comes to the attention of their respective employers--and I hope it does--I hope their companies will recognize them as the liabilities they surely must be to any reputable business and deal with them accordingly.

Wow. Just Wow.

I was a member of this now pitiful organization. I may still be one, but since there hasn't been any real leadership there in some time, I am not even sure if I am past due on my membership fee. Either way, they won't get anything else from me. I would let them know in writing I wanted nothing to do with their antics, yet what good would it do to these men that won't even come to bat for themselves or defend their own. They definetely have no care for my well-being, let alone anyone else not in their "good ole boys club."

Probably the most horrid statement of this whole ridiculous bit of information is the inability of the men involved to step forward and at least deny or justify themselves and then send it to the public of Arkansas Bloggers to rip everyone a new one - without even signing their own name. For those of you here that have made it a point to take the time to do nothing more than throw stones, realize if nothing else you are at minimum a flame for the fire. You cast your judgements, you state your "truths" and you give NOTHING for yourself to stand on. "Strong" is the MAN (or woman in this case) who can belittle and cast doubt and negativity on an individual or group without even signing their own name. Really something. Realllllllly something. You folks' parents should be proud!

Of course in a State that I love to now call home, your mini "Dallas" of moronic social status - whether you all have it or not makes it clear what the intentions here are. Power tends to rear it's head, and it appears an organization founded on such great intentions has now, well, turned itself into some like days passed, a social outlet to do nothing more that "get people out of the house and give us a place to talk down of others to feed our own egos". Hell, I am quite sure there are more of these little social clubs popping up all over this city since it's so important to climb that ole social ladder here. Seems the real problem here is probably just that. Let's knock this one down and that one down, cause it'll make me look better!

This organization had a fantastic board, a great group of leaders, and members and unfortunately a handful of people (bad ones it appears) have turned a great, great thing into a fiasco. I hope they have the ability to dig themselves out of this one, because since this has turned so personal, I have a feeling this one isn't going away soon. For those of you on here and elsewhere in the community throwing stones under such interesting login names I challenge you to use your voice and your NAME!! It actually makes your words mean something, then! Sure is easier to take another step up on that ladder Mr. Socialites - then it is to dig outta that hole - isn't it?

Former Member and Supporter of AYPN,
Jennifer Cox
(YES, that my friends is my "real" name)

Set to my 5th Symphony:
"Nobody Cares! Nobody Cares! ...
Nobody Cares, nobody cares, NOBODY CARES!"

I really want to care about this story, but it's completely unsubstantiated. I ask Leslie Rutlidge & Yolanda Hugg (did anyone else realize they are roomates?) to show some proof of these wild claims.

I don't blame the guys for not making a statement. Why respond to a bunch of made up nonsense?

It sounds to me that Leslie's just mad that she's been voted out of yet another organization, and as usual she's dragging Yolanda down with her. Hey Leslie, when are you going to realize the problem is YOU!

Yolanda, dump that bitch before you end up in prison with her for interfering with a real election.

Ludwig van Beethoven

I'm for neither 'side' but the emails from these boys have been recovered and scanned and I have personally read them ALL and the only problem here is the comments THEY have made and the actions THEY have taken. Honestly, I would be worried about a legal action or my job if I were them. Oh and Craig, I believe as a former 'attractive' female leader in AYPN we ate meat and potatoes at the networking luncheon and not the liberal luncheon you described but you won't be raising my fees to $75 because I am lib!