Friday, June 08, 2007

Exposed: Yeagley's Financial Backer Jim Talley

Note: Brent Michael Davids provided much of the research for this article. Thanks to him for his work.


After talking about publishing a book for years, Yeagley finally had one put out. The results are not much to brag about. It's a collection of his rants online.

How did he finally get published? Yeagley's career in academia has been dead a long time and was never much to begin with. He only taught a single course for a single semester before getting himself fired for trying to indoctrinate students with his far right views, then telling the media he officially represented the university's views.

No respectable press would touch the man who wrote a series of rants with titles such as "Niggers in the News" and other articles attacking not just Blacks, but Arabs, Muslims, Latinos, gays, veterans, the victims at Virginia Tech University, and above all, American Indian people and traditions.

Publishers on the hard right don't seem to think much of him either. The same people who publish Coulter, O'Reilly, Michael Savage, and other racists seemingly would not put out his book.

Even Yeagley's usual backers, David Horowitz and Frontpagemag.com, apparently thought his writings were not worth the effort of publishing.

In seeming desperation, he turned to "Doctor" Jim Talley, who claims to be a psychologist, counselor, and author of several pop psychology self help books.

But "Doctor" Jim Talley got his "doctor's" degree from Columbia Pacific "University".

Columbia Pacific used to be what we commonly call a degree mill, just pay the fee, no real effort required and no real education given.

Columbia Pacific's standards were so low, the State of California shut them down and forced them to give refunds to its students.

http://www.quackwatch.org/04ConsumerEducation/News/cpu.html
"In December 1999, the Marin County Superior Court ordered Columbia Pacific University (CPU), of Novato, California, to cease operations within the State [1,2]. On February 21, 2001, the judge denied further appeals and entered a final judgment ordering CPU to:

Pay a civil penalty of $10,000 to the Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education for violating Sections 17200 et seq. and Sections 17500 et seq. of the California Business and Professions Code.

Permanently stop operating or offering any educational programs in California.
Notify all students enrolled from June 25, 1997 to December 1, 2000 of the injunction and of their right to a refund....

CPU, founded in 1978, was a private, nonaccredited correspondence school that offered programs leading to bachelors, masters, and doctorate-level "degrees" in various subjects.

....an independent administrative law judge who concluded that CPU had: (a) awarded excessive credit for prior experiential learning to many students; (b) failed to employ duly qualified faculty; and (c) failed to meet various requirements for issuing Ph.D. degrees. When CPU continued to operate without legal approval, the California Attorney General sought an injunction....

The bureau further stated that students who received degrees or credentials from CPU before June 25, 1997 should not be affected because the school had legal authorization to operate until that date. This merely means that the school was allowed to issue degrees.

>>>It does not mean that the school was accredited or that employers should regard the degrees as representing education equivalent to that of accredited schools."

Talley's forum (and seemingly his online practice) have both been inactive since 2005. No one can register or post there. Seemingly the site is no longer being updated.

Talley's book appears to be selling at the bottom of the barrel. Just look at this Amazon rating and the going book price:

"True Colors, by Jim A. Talley
No customer reviews yet. Be the first.
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,884,422 in Books
30 used & new available from $0.24"

Since Talley's books are selling for less than a quarter, you have to wonder where his funds come from? Maybe he just made all the money he needed and quit. Or it could be he found a few (or even just one) gullible person and decided it was easier to milk just them than continue bilking the public.

Talley's book received some pretty harsh reviews.

-----

Too Close Too Soon: Avoiding the Heartache of Premature Intimacy
(Paperback) by Jim A. Talley (Author), Bobbie Reed (Author)

Over the top!, April 6, 2001
Reviewer: A reader
...I agree withn the previous that the rigid, mathematical approach to courtship ("300 hours spread over 7 months") is pretty hilarious. As a Christian, I just don't think it's what our Lord had in mind when He created men and women.

For instance: You have to log all the time you spend alone together.
Time spent in a group setting is divided by 4. Phone calls are logged after the first 1/2 hour. Then you plot this data on a graph, to make sure you're not going too fast or too slow. Handy charts are provided for your convenience.

"I'm sorry, Bob, the cosine of the hypotenuse of our relationship exceeds the allowable value. Guess we can't see each other for a few days."

Hmm. Does this seem Biblical? Looks more like cheesy pop psychology to me.

Another bizarre notion the authors have is that the development of a relationship can be divided into 16 clear stages - and that all men go through these stages in one definite order, while all women go through them in another order. Although it's possible to make some broad statements about how *most* men and women act, real-life situations aren't likely to fit this tidy diagram.

I found this book in a thrift shop, and was surprised to discover that it's still in print.

-----
Another review:

This is the funniest book I've ever read, March 5, 2001
By Jack Thompson (Montclair, New Jersey United States)

What a riot! I gave it two stars, if only for the humor.

There's this chart 3/4 of the way through that showcases how slowly a relationship should go to avoid 'unnecessary sexual contact before marriage.' According to the chart, a kiss is acceptable after a month or so, but anything more has to wait until the couple gets married...in SEVEN MONTHS.

The hypocrisy was hysterically funny. On the one hand you should wait until marriage until you have sex, take your time to establish a deep and meaningful relationship. But on the other hand, seven months is viewed as an appropriate timeframe for marriage. I'm sorry, but don't you think rushing into a marriage is a little bit more harmful in the long run than rushing into sex? I had girlfriends in high school that lasted longer than seven months.

Also on this chart is a squiggly line showing the steps to a harmful relationship--friends to sex in one month, with a little note that says "Too fast; seek professional help" or something like that. Gimme a break--that's not a relationship, that's SEX FOR FUN, pure and simple...

So as I said--I loved this book...until I found out it was completely serious.

-----

According to Amazon, Talley's book My Father's Love is actually cited as a resource in another terrible book:

Coming Out of Homosexuality: New Freedom for Men & Women (by Bob Davies, Lori Rentzel)

Review of this book:
“This book dredges up many of the same old, tired myths about gays and lesbians that just aren't borne out in decent, valid research”
(Barbara Elgin, April 9, 2005).

“This is a self-hatred guide” (Reader, June 10, 2003)

“As a serious Christian, this book embarrasses me. As a human being, it fills me with pity for its authors” (Reader, July 9, 2001)

“A horrid book... It was filled with page after page of lies...just a morbid attempt to try to scare people”
(Reader, May 1, 1998).

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