Dan Weisman Cultural Commentary

Unemployment benefits extensions are needed NOW!

Dan weisman — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:49:49 GMT

Imagine how crooked and petty many of the political people are at your local community level, or even around your neighborhood. Take that and multiply it by the factor of millions it takes to rise to the very top of their political food chain.

While some people in politics today, just like some people in the financial industries for another example, may not be greedy, heartless disgusting pigs, obviously they are the exception. To rise through each layer of their political grid(lock) takes another order of magnitude jump in playing the system, hypocritical behaviors and all the other enabling and inhuman activities necessary for success.

Now, consider who we are dealing with, the disgusting pigs -- Kyl, Isakson, McConnell, Hatch, Alexander et al -- who have blocked the much needed immediate help for working Americans victimized by their last decade of allowing, even encouraging, other pigs to loot and destroy the moral fabric of our society. These 40, or so, senators have risen to the very top of the political Ponzi pyramid. They are top pigs in the poke.

It's not surprising they held up these benefit extension for a number of reasons. Firstly, they could care less about us. We don't have lobbyists who can take them to Barbados to golf or for their daily $100+ luncheons. What's more, check out their automated email system. If you're not living in their state, they really, really don't care. You can't even vote against them. (And former Senate staffers say aides don't really read the letters, they skim and categorize them, keeping them more as an informal poll on issues.)

Secondly, we have the problem they don't relate to our situation in the least. While it seems unreal to us to consider they have no compassion or feelings whatsoever, it is equally unreal to them that people who have worked their entire lives or are honest and moral would be victims of their system or actions. They simply don't see how we are out of work if we're good people and don't know what it's like to worry 24-7 about how to pay any bills or buy groceries. Nor do they care.

Thirdly, their world is this gilded cage political system they control. They spend their time hobnobbing with each other at social functions, kissing each other's asses, making deals over supper of in the cloakroom, trading this pork project for that pork project.

The real time suffering of people is irrelevant to their political dealings time frame where issues -- see health care -- play out over decades, not hours. Their rapid fire response to the Tarp bank financial bailout came because they were panicked by their friends and immediate associates. Then, it took like a day to dispense hundreds of billions of dollars with no oversight while suffering by people they don't know who can't vote for them is subjected to this incredible scrutiny and delay over "funding", BS amendments for unrelated issues such as immigrant IDs, their own pork projects, even that housing tax credit that is controversial because the program has so much fraud etc..

Senator pigs also hear constantly from all sorts of interest groups and, again, the paid lobbyists or people with money who buy access to their time. When they hear genuine cries of anguish and despair, they filter that as just another lobbying entity wanting some favor or project. They don't look at it as desperation or legitimate need.

What's more, as the GOP leaders said this week when confronted with polls showing only 20 percent of Americans publicly called themselves Republicans, they didn't care so long as people voted for them in the elections. Hey, it's worked for them since Reagan, so why should they care. They feel that when the drama is over and people get their extension people will forget the pain the last few months and then get distracted by the cynical hypocritical issues of gay marriage, flag burning, "socialism", swift-boat, or whatever they come up with in the election cycle.

Furthermore, they are able to filter out our cries through their system of aides, lackeys and other employees, the low level staffers who answer our phone calls or look at the e-mails. If one, two, three or more of us cornered Kyl in an alley, for example, he would be listening to us with a lot more immediate concern, and being the coward he is, probably fear. But as it stands, he has dozens of buffers between himself and us.

Additionally hurting us are the Democrats, even the ones who say they are trying to help. The House and Senate extension bills each were presented in early August. Shaheen had two months to file her amendment asking the coverage be extended to all states. However, she waited until the very last moment, a merely political ploy to maneuver the Republicans to back her plan or to block it and hurt their political chances. If she genuinely were interested in expanding the benefits for all of us, knowing how the Senate "works", she would have filed this amendment in August or September, so the 70 percent of people covered by the original House-Senate bill wouldn't lose their benefits as has now happened.

This is not to say all pigs are created equally. The Democrats have helped and are sympathetic. they are trying to get us the extension, even though they, too, are mired and blinded by the political prism.

What's the solution? Honestly, I don't know. except as we crowd-source this maybe people will come up with our magic bullet. We live in a society where a hoax balloon boy gets wall-to-wall media coverage, but 400,000 -- 7,000 a day -- soon to be 1.2 million to 2 million people are starving and left to die get three minutes late Friday afternoon on CNN.

Offhand, the most lasting, and probably just, solution would be to French Revolution them, but I am in favor of a bloodless accounting since I personally couldn't handle the stress of it all. We could demonstrate as they did in the early 1930s, but that would be too late and it didn't do any good in the 30s anyway.

The best I have come up with is what we're doing, except more-so, flooding their stinking telephone lines with calls, not letting them get away with lies; and, if possible, showing up individually or in groups to their field and D.C. offices. We need our friends and relations to call them as well.

Please post your suggestions for immediate and compelling action!

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Facebook event created titled "Unemployed benefit extension virtual march on Washington"

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=156123314182

Holding up this unemployment extension bill is tantamount to taking a gun and shooting 7,000 American families DAILY who have lost this lifeline. More than 500,000 have had benefits expire. More than 2 million people, and by extension their families, will lose this lifeline by Christmas.

Yet the Senate continues to stall on this lifeline help. Republicans twice have blocked consideration on bogus grounds. Now they have loaded on EIGHT amendments -- some highly controversial -- having nothing to do with the benefits. They also object to continuing a $14 per employee per year tax for businesses already funded through 2011 to fund the benefits.

However, the Democrats won't formally bring the extension to a vote because they say the Republicans will filibuster.

Huh?

Unemployed people have worked for years in most cases actually contributing to the benefit system intended to aid them in their hour of need. This is life and death.

WE MUST COLLECT TOGETHER IN CYBERSPACE AND IF NEEDED AT THE CAPITOL and tell these insensitive pigs they need to forget about this politics garbage and respond to our immediate needs.

Unemployment is at 10 percent nationwide, which doesn't count people whose unemployment benefits have run out -- 400,000 this month, 1.4 million by December, and those who are underemployed, or working part-time when they need full-time work. The actual unemployment rate is near 20 percent. And as the Jobs Report so clearly illustrates, "employers" continue to cut jobs by the hundreds of thousands each month.

The lobbyists buy these senators left and right. Unemployed people don't have any money. What kind of nation have we become?

We must band together and collectively call out these insensitive stinking senators -- who had no problem in the last month while the UE benefit bill stalled increasing staff salaries in two minutes, funding wars everywhere, giving money to other countries, enabling million dollar bonuses to bank employees and financial people who screwed the unemployed and the economy and a bunch of other stuff about crack cocaine and whatever else, including their own three-day work weeks.

WE DEMAND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT EXTENSIONS TODAY!!!

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Call out these GOP leaders who specifically are delaying this and causing us such unnecessary suffering.

Mitch McConnell, Ky., the GOP leader at (202) 224-2541. I called and his lackey said he was for this, and said why don't the Demos bring it to the floor. Well, they tried twice and McConnell's whip Kyl objected. So, the lackey argued with me and told me to call Kyl's office and hung up.

Jon Kyl, Ariz., GOP whip, and lobbyist lackey. Try calling his office and they don't even answer. His voice mail is (202) 224-4521. He has been using procedural fine print to stop votes twice since last week. You may recall him as the guy during health care debates last month questioned why people needed maternity coverage since he didn't.

Johnny Isakson, Ga. Repub and real estate lobbyist turned senator. This piece of work has attached all sorts of amendments that have nothing to do with nothing -- house tax credits for a program that had 100,000 bogus claims and is a real estate scam -- immigration and six other garbage amendments to delay the unemployment benefit vote. (202) 224-3643,

And of course Oral Hatch, Ut., well known hater of everybody not giving him money. He has been at the center of this add bogus amendments while pretending to be in favor charade because if it went to a vote and you voted against it everybody out of work --Dem and Repub -- would hate you at (202) 224-5251.

Union Bank is predatory lending pigs

Dan weisman — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:40:46 GMT

Basically, the predatory Union Bank of California had suckered me into a $2,000 overdraft line. When I had to use it last year, it became a predatory 18 percent loan I couldn't repay. Therefore, I was paying $40 to $50 per month for a free checking account.

Not only that, but Union Bank was making robot transfers without my knowledge or approval. Each month, they would withdraw around $65 and put it in the cash reserve account. They timed this in many cases to coincide with my withdrawal of funds, causing checks to bounce into the cash reserve and then charging me $10 per overdraft.

Going to the Rancho Santa Fe branch, I spoke with the bank manager. Oh so sympathetic eyeball-to-eyeball, "I know the economy is tough", "I sympathize" yada yada.

Of course, she quickly handed me off to an underling who was oh so sympathetic, yada, who then made a few phone calls and gave me a number to call, saying they would be able to help me.

My point to each of them was this: My paying such exorbitant interest on this balance was akin to a rat chasing a treadmill. I asked them to put back the interest they had stolen -- I used a more asshole friendly term, I believe, assessed -- and I would make good on the balance under an agreement, repaying some each month. I said they could close the overdraft for all I care, but they need to do something for their long-time consumer -- won't say customer -- me.

The underling gave me phone number to call. It turned out to be the collections department. I called the underling again and he gave me another number for a lady in the overdraft department. I called her. She took down my information and said, oh so politely, Mr. Jack, she would get back to me, but first had to determine if she were the appropriate department. Strictly an internal matter, our "team members" -- my interjection, she could have said assholes -- will discuss this, she added.

-----------------------------------------------

After getting home, I received a call from the bank's "I'll get back to you" person. She said we examined your financial status and have decided to close your overdraft account. "I will be transferring you to the collections department."

Whoa...Hey lady, I CALLED YOU, because you have been taking $40 to $50 per month yada yada and offered to pay back the balance. But you need to put back the interest payments...asshole interrupt-us in faux authoritarian voice, which didn't fly with me as you who know me know...I started putting it to her bluntly until she yelled, "I am terminating this call" click.

Immediately, I took out what's left of my money from the bank, and surprisingly the account still worked. I went to the store and used my debit card -- again, not canceled, how shoddy of them to shaft me, but not finish the job, and typical of the "Brazil"ing of our society -- withdrawing all but $4 from the cash reserve. (Couldn't quite max it, darn).

So, there you have the sickness of our society in a 36-hour time capsule. Some pigs get away with a lot, but they can't do it properly either because they're idiots. Many people get shafted one way or the other. Shame shame, sham sham on them (and us for being a part of it).

Tomorrow, Wednesday, the adventure will continue. I will go to the San Diego County Credit Union at Escondido and open another "free" checking account, no overdraft protection thank you very not.

Fully, I expect Union Bank's collection pigs to harass me, file litigation, get judgments from the crooked court system -- don't get me started on the bogus red light camera ticket that cost me $434, plus two court appearances and when I protested they attached another $56 to it,. threatening to charge me $300 more and issue a summons should I not pay -- and whatever else takes place.

But I don't care.

"You lie!"

My Ranch House

Dan weisman — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 15:36:43 GMT

Party at the Ranch House

Fri 10:13pm | Edit Note | Delete

(FOR MORE, VISIT http://WWW.92067FREEPRESS.COM, GO TO "VOICE OF RANCHO SANTA FE"

All we were missing was a good Ray Bong whipping, but nothing says party like the Ranch House (tm). A beautiful night, we opened the appropriately pre-screened passage and voila', elegant, graceful, clean and pleasant.

Everything worked great. However, due to the financial turmoil, and my having only $2 in my pocket to last until March 15, I was unable to purchase beer, booze, beef, barley...Also, unfortunately Decanter was open so I couldn't check out their afterthoughts, wine, cheese, etc.

But I digress. I hadn't realized the house had two complete bathrooms. If only I had known. Plus, somebody could live in the utility room, it was so large and/or the walk-in closet, in addition to the two large bedrooms.

Very quiet. I took a few photos with the phonecam, digicam. I brought along the digital videocam, but chickened out. I hate editing now, too much drudgework; I can't even remember why I used to like it. Maybe next time.

Would have been great to host some dancing on the patios, or even inside the spacious tile-covered main room, but I forgot to bring the computer. Very good sound inside, though.

What else? Oh yeah, I heard a giant screeching noise and some heavy metal. Reminded me of Calhoun Street in New Orleans, which was good for about a crash a week. However, I forgot about the noise and resumed the party for a while.

Finally, how much fun can one man have? Not sure, but made sure to lock up -- more-or-less-- turn off the lights, the party's over. They say all good things...

Leaving, I noticed something odd. Ah yes, the car crash. Sure enough, a car was sitting just off the road -- near Ranch House's bottom yard -- all smashed and confused.

Karma. Darn. Got to run.

But I will check on things tomorrow and plan to have a shower dance party in honor of http:ww//92067FREEPRESS.com, 9:30 p.m. to midnight Saturday, March 7. No need to RSVP. Just show up and bring whipped cream if you got it.

Yours truly,

Dan

My Ranch House

Monday, February 16, 2009 at 2:21am | Edit Note | Delete

MY NEW RSF FANTASY HOME

Sorry, as with Bin Laden or Dick Cheney, this location must remain undisclosed due to security considerations.

However, take a couple of Decanter chairs and a couple of Mille Fleurs cushions, mix them all about and voila', patio deck #1 at Hacienda Rancho Fake is ready for party hardy central.

It's got electricity with outlets all around the house as well as satellite dishes, hookups and cable hookups. Running water. Pets allowed, even a horse.

Another great feature is the luxury portalet -- hand-wash, scented walls, very clean and airy -- directly across the street for easy access. No need to mess up the lovely tile and carpet interior, new appliances, house built about four years ago.

Other features include a second porch, shady area surrounded by three sides of natural open space, great view of Crosby Estate, Cielo and the Santa Fe Valley, easy access, quiet, lush landscaping, garden areas, with large palm trees great for summer shade. Very private in plain view.

A true testament to what no money down and zero credit can do for you, too! (However, you must know the secret handshake.)

Oops, I hear some rustling in the wind. Got to run. I'll report back soon enough on my progress at hacienda rancho fake, my new home away from home.

"Dan"

Robbie Alomar goes YA-YA's

Dan weisman — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 18:26:09 GMT

For more of this and more in general visit http://www.92067FREEPRESS.COM otherwise known as 92067 Rancho Santa Fe Free Press

I lived in Tampa and worked Clearwater, Dunedin, Port Richey and such when Robbie Alomar starred for the Toronto Blue Jays. I always considered him a great and totally underrated ballplayer, Hall of Fame caliber. I even spoke to him a few times.

So, I had a soft spot for Alomar. And then some.

See, when somebody asked him for the name of his favorite restaurant, he came back Ya-Ya's. Actually, he said: "I. Roberto Alomar, Blue Yays second baseman love Ya Ya's chicken."

ME TOO! I loved Ya Ya's. They had like six or seven outlets around the Tampa Bay area, served awesome healhy grilled chicken dinners at reasonable prices, fast. Great salads and sides.

So when Robbie went Ya-Ya's, so did I during my frequent visits to the place. YA-YA'S!!!

And now this. The AIDS thing. Amazingly given Alomar's frequent upstaging by others over his baseball years, he couldn't even get no respect for a GIGANTIC SCANDAL, probably. The legal paperwork spewed forth from a palimony suit on the AIDS problem just when the ARod news broke, so Alomar, even in possible demise, was upstaged.

But the Alomar affair has so many angles, it's hard to know where to start. #1: He has HIV and AIDS? Huh? He was raped as a 17-year-old by men ouside his first minor league team's park? Huh? And so much more, like his seven-year live-in girlfriend -- they call that a wife at many trailer parks -- and her past as a "champion female arm-wrestler", as shown in old clips. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!

Considering we can count on no fingers the number of acknowledged Major League Baseball. or former MLB players with AIDS, or victims of rape for that matter, this story would be blown up al over the hemisphere.

Barely a whimper however this week. We'll hear a lot more. You heard it here first.

(Read my MLB.com baseball blog for more)

"Yes We Can" v. "Just Say No"

Dan weisman — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 14:40:35 GMT

Elucidating and repudiating Ronald Reagan's legacy

(For more, visit http://www.92067FREEPRESS.COM)

With all due respect, the overblown hype surrounding Ronald Reagan's presidency on the part of Republican stalwarts is long overdue for a much needed reality check and historical correction.

Reagan's legacy of eliminating government and empowering self-interest -- and by extension, greed -- of neglecting the many rungs of society in favor of "trickle-down" chimeras ultimately is what brought America to its current condition, on the mat and greatly in need of a massive makeover.

The so-called "Reagan Revolution" was nothing more than an attempt by those with power and money to keep what they have and get as much more as possible. Obviously, it worked well for them since the disparity of wealth from rich to poor is the greatest in U.S. history since the 1880s, the Gilded Age when excess ruled, and the 1920s, followed as it were by the correction of the Great Depression.

Another great correction is in order. It needs to take place in all aspects of American life, from the externalities of government and the use of power to the very innards of the American soul.

Part of this process is calling out history, placing proper perspective on facts rather than fictions.

One of the biggest fictions of all is this attempt by ultra-conservative partisans to paint the Reagan administration and Reagan years as a time of great achievement and template for society.

Let us examine the actualities and their consequences as we debunk the Reagan mythology that brought us to this moment of economic ruin and foreign adventurism.

Reagan and the cult of personality

Reagan had the force of personality perfect, as it turned out, for the newly emerging age of mass communication where picture trumped platform. Even he joked often about his B-movie career that morphed into leadership of the actor's union and a huge popularity bump as television host.

Reagan's purely political career took off as he prominently supported Richard Nixon in 1960, then very actively campaigned on behalf of Barry Goldwater's 1964 reactionary push-back to equal rights at home and morality in foreign affairs. Those speeches and campaigning on Goldwater's behalf catapulted Reagan to national political prominence.

Running against an unpopular California governor, riding the backlash against the University of California Berkeley free speech movement, as well as minorities and so-called permissive liberals, Reagan won a million vote landslide in 1966.

Fast-forwarding past LBJ and Vietnam, Nixon and Watergate, the Reagan public relations machine emerged as the conservative alternative to progressive thought in the 1970s. But that, in itself, was not enough to get past public perception of him as an actor turned political wanabee with credibility issues.

Reagan very narrowly failed to dislodge Gerald Ford as Republican standard-bearer in 1976, not surprising since Ford had the power of the presidency at his back. But that campaign, followed by the ambiguity and lack of focus of the Carter presidency put Reagan in the catbird's seat for a 1980 presidential run.

Two events in 1979 set the stage for Reagan's ascension to the presidency. Neither had anything to do with his so-called philosophy, personal charisma or political competence.

The Arab oil crisis resulting in massive gasoline shortages, lines and rationing coupled with the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Teheran completely derailed an already shaky Carter administration.

While Reagan can't be implicated in the energy crisis, we now know there was an arms-for-hostages quid pro quo allowing that all-consuming issue to fester during the 1980 presidential campaign, virtually ensuring Reagan's election. He got 51 percent of the vote. The hostages, in fact, were released mere minutes after he took the oath of office, Jan. 20, 1981.

Lessons of the 1980s

The 1980 election had nothing to do with conservative philosophy or the desire of Americans to dismantle the FDR-JFK-LBJ legacy of a government helping people, working with people to improve their lot. But the American people got the Reagan acolytes and their cynically selective use of government to suit their own purposes, mainly greed and the permanent retention of political power.

The 1980s are widely recognized as an era of excess, Wall Street run amuck, so famously encapsulated in Oliver Stone's Gordon Gecko "greed is good" hallmark. In most matters political, the Reaganites talked about government being the problem with private enterprise the solution.

Again in fact, that governmental disdain only went so far. It went as far as the poor and disenfranchised as the Reagan administration curtailed programs costing pennies to aid the unfortunate and downtrodden, even as it spent massive dollars on defense including harebrained missile systems that never worked, but cost billions.

For all their talk about ending government interference in people's lives, the Reaganites sought to use government to enforce their concepts of morality, perhaps best personified by their simplistic, even racist Just Say No drug campaigns targeting minorities.

The Reagan years can be appreciated all the better in retrospect. The Cold War provided an external threat distracting people from internal problems, a sort of sleight-of-political-hand job. Reagan's powerful personality and simplistic world view allowed his minions to overcome potential economic disconnects with working class and middle-class White voters who proved the difference-makers in keeping him in office. Demographics, while changing, continued to favor older, more conservative candidates. The Democratic Party was in disarray.

A 1984 election landslide gave the Reagan "Revolution", rather a counter-revolution, the numbers in Washington to do as they would. They carried on well enough even to elect George Bush, our first, who was, people forget, a fairly unpopular figure at the time. But the Reagan apparatus, dedicated to preserving influence, rode the Reagan name into a figurative third term.

Reagan to Bush to what

We can appreciate now the entire sequence of Reagan-to-Bush I, had nothing to do with the proposition government was evil and should get out of people's lives, as hypocritical as was their position. All today agree many people voted for the public, and popular, image of Reaganism, even when it ran counter to their own economic self-interest.

Masters of public relations, in effect turning around the Nixon mistakes with a vision of self-aggrandizement, the Reagan PR machine churned out messages fine-tuned to their target audience, whether, or not, the message had a basis in actuality.

Coincidental with all this, the Soviet Union collapsed. This was a result of decades of internal pressure, and a geopolitical grasp loosened by Pope John Paul II and the Solidarity Movement in Poland that swiftly altered the political equation throughout Eastern Europe. The removal of the imbalance of economic design propping up Sovietism through its Eastern European colonies caused its demise, not Reagan policies.

However, due to the historical accident of Reagan happening to be president at the time, and a landmark appearance at the Berlin Wall, the Reagan PR machine claimed he won the Cold War. This extreme fallacy continues to be a pillar in the Reagan and GOP mythology, although historians know better.

Bush I couldn't overcome his own lack of popularity and lack of achievement in 1992. Bill Clinton brilliantly coupled more traditional Democratic Party advantages in what we now call blue states with a favorite son pull in Southern red states into a powerful win.

While we may continue to argue about Clinton as liberal v. conservative in values, we can not dispute a more natural return to government as a tool to aid people rather than enemy during his terms in office. Clinton's downfall in effectiveness had nothing to do with this philosophy. It had everything to do with issues of morality and Republican Party partisanship, cynically using personal issues to regain their stranglehold on power in order to generate personal or collegial gain.

Which brings us to George W. Bush III. In an America deeply divided by personal politics, not philosophy, Bush lost the popular vote, but won through the 18th Century device of an electoral college, and a one vote Supreme Court decision.

Bush, the lately, didn't win in the least on a mandate of dismantling government to its very core. But that's who, and what, we got along with a Republican majority in Congress, whose disastrous legacy we now are in the process of unraveling.

And now the future

The Bush years of government neglect have ended. This horrific group encouraged the seeds of economic greed and ruin, public and foreign policy drift, disgrace and tortuous political and personal immorality; not to mention legacy of torture as policy, Katrina, lying the nation into war, spying without authorization on its own citizens, massive disregard for the rule of law and the U.S. Constitution and, well, a seemingly endless list of malfeasance, misfeasance and whatever other nonfeasance we now know or will discover in time.

The Obama landslide and newfound hope for a vast number of our citizens represents a total repudiation of the natural progression of the Reagan legacy to its final end in the Bush debacle.

The Reagan "government is the problem" mantra was never the sentiment of the American people. Government is an important, overwhelming force that can be a wave lifting up the people when applied with honesty, intelligence and good purpose. The beauty of our place and time today in the Age of Obama is the opportunity to use our resources to help our citizens, rather than maintain a few in obscene wealth.

"Yes we can" has trumped "Just Say No". The shell game of a sham that is the Reagan legacy should now be considered officially debunked and consigned to the trash heap of history. Government is not the problem. It is the grand hope. Just ask our Founding Fathers who gave us a Constitution 226 years in the making. Just ask Joe Everybody today.

What if Obama falters?

Dan weisman — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 06:32:25 GMT

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WHAT IF OBAMA FALTERS???

Barack Obamarama. Exciting, generational change, optimism on steroids, yes we can, and all that,jass.

But the what-if riffs must be heard as well. What if Obama doesn't work out?

Obama has been at the top of the class wherever he has gone. We've heard the tales, the tall praise from his teachers and peers. He has been a top politician, too, from the Illinois statehouse to Capitol Hill.

Obama ran a seminal campaign, probably a template for the next two decades and a paradigm for future generations. It didn't hurt any that he had the pathetic George Bush legacy to help blaze the trail to victory.

The what-ifs, however, have me by the scruff of my thoughts. What if the challenges are too great even for Obamarama. What if his lack of governing experience comes back to haunt; after all, that Hilary Clinton line of all he has is a good speech from whenever continues to resonate.

Or, shudder forbid, what if Obama proves to be a mirage -- a well-intentioned, super-intelligent guy who doesn't have the chops, luck, or historical timing to succeed.

What if an Obama worst case scenario occurs and he is pummeled by Congress, events, failures, an administration that turns out to be no better than the Bush Abomination?

I'm not saying it will happen. None of us want it going down like that. I expect Obama to do great things. We need him to succeed. He must.

But history teaches us, time and again, what people want, what a world needs, sometimes doesn't quite turn out that way, often changes in ways completely unforeseen.

Which brings us to the Obama Inauguration. For the sake of argument, a reality check, what happens if the new political wave falters, fades, fails? What indeed!

Russia's so-called US expert, Igor Panarin, got a lot of pub recently for his prediction of disintegration of our states into six separate entities. The prediction appears ludicrous on its surface, especially with Panarin's added details of foreign takeovers -- East Coast to European Union, Midwest to Canada, West Coast to China -- and civil war.

Yet, an Obama failure of catastrophic proportions would set the stage for something drastic. Should Obama turn out to be a fake, or, just as bad, a Bush incompetency clone, this nation is truly done for and in apocalyptic trouble. Perhaps not enough to split into six divergent nations, but bad verging on the worst.

The economic turmoil, coupled with foreign entanglements. has created the ultimate in unstable conditions.

Not righting the economy means tens of millions of potentially starving, hopeless individuals, ultimately with nothing and nothing to lose, a preamble to anarchy.

Not navigating the shockingly difficult international issues -- Iraq, Afghanistan, the Mideast obviously; North Korea and Iran, Russia's return to prominence, China and India's rise -- could mean nuclear confrontation and George Orwellian prediction of constant world war.

Economic collapse, nuclear war, political dissolution are merely the known specters. That's not considering natural disasters, climate change, unforeseen dangers, all sure to happen in some form. The margin of error is small to none.

Surely, this more pessimistic rain will not spoil the Inauguration parade heralding the reign of Obama. His speech will be groundbreaking. Enthusiasm will run high. If he succeeds, we succeed. Good for us.

But it doesn't hurt to stay loose, so to speak, on this new era about to unfold. Let's not overlook the challenges while heralding the challenger for change as our salvation incarnate.

Hopefully, Obama will take care of business, fulfill our hopes, our dreams and his destiny. Hopefully.

Let's further hope we never find out what happens in an Obama failure for God forbid that Mayan December 2012 end-of-the-world prediction or permutations of the Panarin Doctrine might not be so far-fetched after all.

MLB NETWORK LOOKED GOOD AT DEBUT

Dan weisman — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:26:36 GMT

MLB Network's first day looked good. That was a very interesting Don Larson perfect game show. Does Bob Costas ever sleep? Is he on every sports broadcast? He was at the Wrigley field outdoor game, too, although of course the Larson Show was taped.

The Kinetescope made distances look shorter, sort of similar to the vehicle mirror effect. Still, Mantle's catch on left center field was amazing as were a few other plays. The crowd was overwhelmingly male, with many in suits and ties. Wierd. did not realize Larson was 3-21 with the Orioles first year in Baltimore, 1954, but two of his wins were against the Yanks, so that explained the trade in part.

Then, there were the endless $1 Gilette razor blade commercials. Amazing. And they threw in that baseball mini-encyclopedia, a -- get this -- $4.50 value. Wonder how many blades they sold. And "super speed razor"??? Me thinks not.

Another fascinating feature was Jackie Robinson, c. 1956. While his main redux image is of a thin, fast guy, the '56 Robinson playing 3B actually appeared overweight and slow. A couple of other players also looked out-of-shape by today's standards, Campanella comes to mind. Duke Snider didn't, and he made a hell of a catch robbing Mantle before Mantle hit that home run to give the Yankees a 1-0 lead.

And CAN YOU BELIEVE, VIN SCULLY called half the game along with Mel Barber. Scully was a bit more restrained than today, but so was Barber. That seemed to be the early TV broadcast mode, letting the pictures do the work. Now they pile three, maybe four -- YES? Network, Mets games -- guys.

Sal Maglie at 39, tossing junk; what hapened to the headhunting? Billy Martin at 2B. Yogi Berra of course. Costas said some 15 Hall of Famers either played in the game, sat on the bench or were in the broadcast team that day. Wow! And it was my birthday, but I digress.

Anyway, the Hot Stove Show was very cool, too, even though Harold Reynolds has that cloud hanging over him. Leiter and Larkin did a great, intelligent job.

So, a nice way to start the new year, maybe even a perfect game way.

And oh by the way, visit http://www.92067freepress.com for more good stuff.

Dock Ellis RIP

Dan weisman — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 13:36:38 GMT

DOCK ELLIS RIP: ELLIS, 63, DIED OF LIVER FAILURE SATURDAY, DEC. 20 AT A LOS ANGELES HOSPITAL.

HE AUTHORED ONE OF THE MOST MEMORABLE SPORTING EVENTS IN SAN DIEGO HISTORY

This and more in http://www.92067.FREEPRESS.COM

Lysergic World San Francisco, April 16-19, 1993

Los Angeles, April 8, 1984- Former Pittsburgh Pirates' pitcher Dock Ellis says he was under the influence of LSD when he pitched a 1970 no-hitter against the San Diego Padres.

Ellis, now co-ordinator of an anti drug program in Los Angeles, said he didn't know until six hours before his June 12, 1970 no hitter that he was going to pitch.

"I was in Los Angeles, and the team was playing in San Diego , but I didn't know it. I had taken LSD..... I thought it was an off-day, that's how come I had it in me. I took the LSD at noon. At 1pm, his girlfriend and trip partner looked at the paper and said, "Dock, you're pitching today!"

"That's when it was $9.50 to fly to San Diego. She got me

to the airport at 3:30. I got there at 4:30, and the game started at 6:05pm. It was a twi-night doubleheader.

I can only remember bits and pieces of the game. I was psyched. I had a feeling of euphoria.

I was zeroed in on the (catcher's) glove, but I didn't hit the glove too much. I remember hitting a couple of batters and the bases were loaded two or three times.

The ball was small sometimes, the ball was large sometimes, sometimes I saw the catcher, sometimes I didn't. Sometimes I tried to stare the hitter down and throw while I was looking at him. I chewed my gum until it turned to powder.

They say I had about three to four fielding chances. I remember diving out of the way of a ball I thought was a line drive. I jumped, but the ball wasn't hit hard and never reached me."

The Pirates won the game, 2-0, although Ellis walked eight batters. It was the highpoint in the baseball career of one of the finer pitchers of his time, and arguably,one of the greatest achievements in the history of sports.

Scrooged. Scrooge needs a better PR agent.

Dan weisman — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 17:31:08 GMT

This must be truly a season for giving. How else can we explain giving a presidential election to a guy who lost by more than half a million votes? I'm still bitter about 2000, even now.

I'm tempted to say "Only in America." Or "Only for Christmas." But that kind of thing happens from time to time in the Third World too. The way I figure it, George W. Bush had a heck of a PR agent.

Ebenezer Scrooge could have used one too, the poor, dear misunderstood gentleman. Scrooge's problem was bad publicity, the cynical media.

But I admire the poor sap, and not just because he is so darn cute.

You've heard all the stories. Scrooge was the guy who (allegedly) messed with good old Bob Cratchit's Christmas. And don't even start on Tiny Tim.

Bah, humbug.

People need to hear the good news about Scrooge.

Contrary to popular belief, Scrooge loved Christmas. Check out the classic Scrooge as portrayed by Alistair Sims in the 1950s "A Christmas Carol." Scrooge is transformed into the most fanatical pro-Christmas spirit ever

By the end of the movie ---- which some of us recall was based on a Charles Dickens story ---- Scrooge becomes the most effusive advocate Christmas this side of the indomitable Mr. Hanky on "South Park."

FOR MORE OF THIS CAUTIONARY TALE VISIT "VOICE OF RSF" AT HTTP://WWW.92067FREEPRESS.COM

"World's Oldest Living Dead Ringer"

Dan weisman — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 19:01:23 GMT

(Read more in http://www.92067FREEPRESS.com)

That gruff yet recognizable voice. The trademark cigar. Those corny jokes that may, or may not, be funny but with that rat-a-tat-tat Vaudevillian delivery that never seems to fail. It might be. It could be. It is....

Al Mager?

Or is it George Burns?

For those who thought George Burns was a permanent fixture in the Las Vegas of the sky, think again.

Al Mager of Lake San Marcos is George Burns.

Well, a professional George Burns look-alike and former stand-in for the guy who used to say "Good Night Gracie" on radio and early TV, then played God in the movies before dying at age 100 in 1996.

"I liked George Burns but I wasn't crazy about him," said Mager, a former New Jersey cigarette paper worker and longtime Oceanside resident who retired to Lake San Marcos earlier this year. "I had a stroke in 1984 and said what am I going to do now. I saw an ad in the paper that you can be in commercials. The commercials director said you look like George Burns and sent me on a commercial job as his stand-in."

Thus was born Mager's new calling in life. He visited backstage with the venerable entertainer and started working gigs as a Burns look-alike and stand-in for Burns in Hollywood commercial work.

"I met him when he was entertaining in Atlantic City and as soon as I walked in the door people stormed me, asking for autographs," Mager said. "I said get me a seat, George is my dad."

Billing himself as the "World's Oldest Living Dead Ringer," Mager would drop in on Burns in Hollywood from time to time and shoot the shtick with him. Burns always was gracious and shared his thoughts including an apparent distaste for Frank Sinatra, Mager said.

Mager has slowed down a bit due to the effects of two strokes, but there must be something in those George Burns-type genes, for the 85-year-old San Marcos entertainer looks good and is interested in doing a little entertaining and attending celebrity look-alike conventions.

"It's a pleasure to be here," Burns, I mean Mager, says, repeating one of Burns' most classic lines. "At my age, it's a pleasure to be anywhere."

Ahh, material. In point of fact, Mager does look like George Burns. He sounds like him, too. And he's got that zest for life that made Burns such an American favorite for nearly a century.

Mager's routine is very good by the way. Plus he hands out million dollar bills with his likeness for effect. "Hey, you just made a million dollars," Mager tells people. OK, corny and then some, but it got my attention.

"I had a Gracie," Mager said, referring to Burns' better half, his wife and leading light in the Burns and Allen act, and shows. "She was a retired actress. "I always invited her husband to go with us when we performed but one time he didn't want to go. We got back one, two in the morning. No more Gracie after that."

These days Mager hangs with the other celebrity look-alikes at what appears to be an annual convention in Las Vegas. He has several giant scrapbooks filled with pictures of him and the mass quantities of Marilyn Monroes, Bill and Hillarys, popes, James Deans, and, of course, Elvises. Many, many Elvises.

"Just got back from the Imperial Hotel in Las Vegas," Mager said. "They had Bill, Monica, Joan Rivers, even Abe Lincoln. All of them were from different talent agencies. There was a Sammy Davis, Howard Stern, Mr. T, two Joan Rivers, Dave Letterman, Neil Diamond, Jim Carrey, two John Waynes, two Tom Cruises, a Seinfeld...."

The list goes on, too. "Hail hail the gang's all here," Mager sings. But I swear I can see and hear George Burns. Say goodnight, Al.

READ MORE IN HTTP://WWW.92067FREEPRESS.COM

Ike Turner homage noire

Dan weisman — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 16:49:06 GMT

(Note: Ike Turner died Dec. 12, 2007 at his home in San Marcos, Ca.)

DESPERATELY SEEKING IKE FOR A GIG AT VENTURA

(For much more, visit http://www.92067FREEPRESS.COM)

I was working the day shift out of San Marcos when the phone rang. It was Adrienne. Yeah, Adrienne. Cool glass of water out of Ventura.

Adrienne. See. She got with Spence and they got themselves a little ole' radio show. KVTA-AM1520. Ventura's only drive-time talk news music and ... Well, you know the drill.

Adrienne and Spence wanted Ike. Yeah. Ike. Ike Turner. You know Ike. Father of rock and roll. Had a little thing with Tina. Big guy with a big bass.

They wanted Ike to spice up the deal. Shake, rattle and roll some cages. Spill the beans. Tell it like it is.

Now, me. I seen Ike. Seen him around town, don't you know. At the Panda Gardens. The Power Surge. Going down San Marcos Boulevard. East and West. Hither and Yon.

But you know what. Hadn't seen Ike for a dog's age.

That little old suburban house with a white picket fence and garden. Yeah that was Ike's pad. Ike had it all. See.

But what it was?

Ventura. San Marcos. Hollywood. It's all the same. Just a bunch of lonely people looking for a little music in their lives. Just a far-fetched fleck of dust flung across a big fat stack of condos where timeless sands wash along white-capped shores.

Yeah. But I ain't going to Del Mar today.

Adrienne wanted Ike. Now I wanted Ike, too.

I got in my little coupe d'coupe and dragged on down the strip. Lots of good stuff around here. Lake San Marcos. Quail. Water. Got me some bubble tea just for fun.

I headed up the hill and started seeking Ike.

Knock knock. Who's there. Nobody. No Ike. Nobody. Nobody home and by the looks of the empty driveway and locked-up fence nobody had been home for quite a while.

Hey, it's a hard knock life.

So, I surf.

The Net. The 'scape. Ike's got a site. A darn nice site. All the bells and whistles, don't you know.

Not much there to report however. Ike just turned 70. He got these pictures of a surprise party at Big Jim's Bar-B-Que in Encinitas. Groovy and far-out. He also got this long list of upcoming musical events. Sweet venues.

CANCELED.

All canceled, I tell you. Adrienne baby. We don't got much.

The next few days I go back again and again. Take down the notes. Literally. Ike's got these musical notes on his front door mat. Wish I knew what they were.

Went back to Ike's to jot down the notes again, see, when a pretty little poker face pokes through the blinds. It's Audrey. Yeah, Ike's OK, she says. Concert cancellations? We're in negotiations, she says. Yeah, that's the ticket. Negotiating.

I leave my card. Looking for the local angle, see. Adrienne and Spence they're looking, too. Got something special up in Ventura for him. A little drive-time radio spot they're itching to fill.

Long story short: I'm knocking off for the day. The phone rings. It's Audrey. Ike wants to talk. Give us a call.

I give Adrienne a call. We found Ike. Hey, call Audrey. She'll call Ike. And Ike'll call you. Then you call me.

That's it. My job's done.

Yo Adrienne: Give Ike my regards.

Me? I gotta make like a stocking.

And run.

(Note: IKE TURNER WEBSITES, FOLLOW THE LINK...)

(For much more, visit http://www.92067FREEPRESS.COM)

HTTP://WWW.92067FREEPRESS.COM IN GOOGLE NEWS SOON

Dan weisman — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 05:13:47 GMT

I'VE BEEN POSTING SOMETIMES ON PNN BECAUSE THEY HAVE STRUCTURED AN EXCELLENT ONLINE SEARCH PRESENCE. PEOPLE CAN FIND THESE ARTICLES EASILY, WHICH IS USEFUL IN GETTING THE WORD OUT ON SOME PROJECTS AND WORK.

I BECAME AWARE OF THE SITE AS IT STARTED DUE TO THE GREAT SERVICES OF USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM ONLINE JOURNALISM REVIEW. USC WENT OUT OF THE ONLINE COMMUNITY BIZ, BUT THE KNGHT DIGITAL MEDIA CENTER RECENTLY TOOK BACK THE FUTURE IN THE FORM OF RE-BRANDING OJR. (HEY, KNIGHT, HOW COME YOU WON'T GIVE 92067 FREE PRES ANY MONEY; BUT I DIGRESS).

ANYWAY, I WON'T QUARREL WITH PNN AND WHAT HAPPENS HERE BECAUSE IT'S NOT MY PRIMARY FOCUS. MY THOUGHTS: I DO BELIEVE THE MATERIAL IS TOO SOFT TO BE OF MUCH INTEREST TO ME GENERALLY, BUT SINCE IT IS PRODUCER DRIVEN, PEOPLE PUT IN WHAT THEY PUT IN...I DO THINK SOME OUTREACH IN THE MORE SERIOUS ONLINE JOURNALISM COMMUNITY WOULD BE USEFUL FOR THIS SITE.

WITH THAT SAID, WE ARE CREATING A TEMPLATE FOR THE FUTURE OF PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY ONLINE JOURNALISM AT 92067 RANCHO SANTA FE FREE PRESS. THAT IS TO SAY, A CLOSER-TO-THE-GROUND APPROACH WITH HEAVY DOSES OF PERSONALIZED INPUT, BUT MANAGED PROFESSIONALLY.

NOT A CORPORATE SPONGE LOOKING TO CREATE PROFITS, BUT A COMMUNITY RESOURCE DONE BY, AND FOR, THE COMMUNITY, USING MONEY TO IMPROVE THE INFORMATIONAL CONTEXT AND STRUCTURE. THIS IS PUBLIC SERVICE Y'ALL. BUT WE DO NEED TO SURVIVE FINANCIALLY HOWEVER MODESTLY.

SO FAR, ONLINE COMMUNITY JOURNALISM HAS NOT BEEN SUPPORTED BY ADVERTISING. THE TOP SITES HAVE DONE MAYBE $1,800 A MONTH WITH VARIOUS SOURCES.

IN FACT, THE SITES THAT ARE GROWING AND SUCCEEDING HAVE DONE THIS EXCLUSIVELY WITH PRIVATE SPONSORSHIPS AND GRANTS. WE PLAN TO TRY TO SECURE $5,000 A MONTH IN SPONSORSHIPS, WHICH WILL ENSURE OUR PRESENCE AND ALLOW US TO BECOME SOMETHING SPECIAL.

THE LATEST MILESTONE WAS ACCEPTANCE INTO GOOGLE NEWS.

THIS IS WHAT I POSTED ON FACEBOOK. ANYBODY INTERESTED IN INTERACTING FEEL FREE TO ADD ME AND/OR THE 92067FREEPRESS GROUP AS A FACEBOOK FRIEND.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press...and now 92067 Rancho Santa Fe Free Press. We got on Google News after a few months of "working" with them. Don't ask. This just in from Google:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Dan,

Thank you for your note. We've reviewed your site again and will be adding it to our index for Google News. Once your site has been processed, we encourage you to submit a Google News sitemap in order to optimize the indexing of your articles.

Please keep in mind that the inclusion process may take up to a few weeks, and you'll only be able to submit a News sitemap once this process is complete.

Regards,
The Google Team
----------------------------------------------------------------

Anyway, http://www.92067FREEPRESS.com.

Soon, we'll have the site cleaner and start looking for sponsorships. Here's more about Google News from them....

Dan

About Google News
Google News:
A Novel Approach to News
Google News is a computer-generated news site that aggregates headlines from more than 4,500 English-language news sources worldwide, groups similar stories together and displays them according to each reader's personalized interests.

Traditionally, news readers first pick a publication and then look for headlines that interest them. We do things a little differently, with the goal of offering our readers more personalized options and a wider variety of perspectives from which to choose. On Google News we offer links to several articles on every story, so you can first decide what subject interests you and then select which publishers’ accounts of each story you’d like to read. Click on the headline that interests you and you'll go directly to the site which published that story.

Our articles are selected and ranked by computers that evaluate, among other things, how often and on what sites a story appears online. We also rank based on certain characteristics of news content such as freshness, location, relevance and diversity. As a result, stories are sorted without regard to political viewpoint or ideology and you can choose from a wide variety of perspectives on any given story. We'll continue to improve Google News by adding sources, fine-tuning our technology and providing Google News to readers in even more regions.

Scenes from an Election

Dan weisman — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:16:19 GMT

Voters came early to Ada W. Harris elementary School at Cardiff, Ca.

A line formed at the door before polls opened at 7 a.m. Within an hour, more people had voted than in the previous primary election. They did this in a heavy rain.

By 10 a.m., about 25 percent of the 844-voter precinct had vted. Combine that with a 25 percent mail-in ballot rate and effectivrly half the precinct had spoken.

Voting was consistent throughout the day with about 90 percent of eligible voters eventually participating. Elementary school students were taken around the voting machines and got "I voted" stickers.

Vietnam through eyes of Marine Corps Photographers

Dan weisman — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 17:31:38 GMT

HTTP://www.92067FREEPRESS.com, THE RANCHO SANTA FE FREE PRESS, CO-FOUNDER, PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR AND OVERALL EMINENCE GRISE WALDO NILO VIETNAM PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW DEBUTS AT THE VALLEY CENTER LIBRARY. OPENING RECEPTION IS 1 TO 3 P.M. SATURDAY, NOV. 8 AT THE LIBRARY, 29200 COLE GRADE ROAD. SAN DIEGO COUNTY SUPERVISOR BILL HORN, A COMMAND LIEUTENANT IN VIETNAM, SPONSORED THE SHOW. SANDIEGO COUNTY LIBRARIES AND ESCONDIDO KIWANIS CLUB WERE PARTNERS. THE SHOW RUNS NOV. 3 THROUGH NOV. 30.

NILO CONTRIBUTED PHOTOGRAPHS AND CURATED THE EXHIBIT FEATURING 40 IMAGES TAKEN 40 YEARS AGO, 1967-1969, BY I CORPS, 3rd MARINE DIVISION PHOTOGRAPHERS. NILO WAS A COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHER IN THAT UNIT. IT FLUCTUATED BETWEEN 15 AND 33 PHOTOGRAPHERS THROUGHOUT THE CONFLICT, TAKING STATE-OF-THE-ART IMAGES WITH 35 MM CAMERAS AND 16 MM FILM. THE UNIT SAW ACTION ALONG FRONT LINES RANGING FROM PHO BAY TO QUAN TRI, DONG HA TO THE KEY BATTLE OF KHE SHANH. THEY ALSO SHOT DURING THE TET OFFENSIVE AT HUE' CITY.

SEVERAL OF THESE COMBAT PHOTOGRAPHERS LIVE IN NORTH COUNTY INCLUDING 1st LT. JOE HEARD, THE COMMANDING OFFICER FOR THE UNIT, WHO LIVES IN ESCONDIDO.

THE ICONIC IMAGES ARE FROM SIGNIFICANT ENGAGEMENTS AS WELL AS POIGNANT MOMENTS, MADE ALL THE MORE RELEVANT BY RECENT WARS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN.

"MANY PEOPLE ARE COMPLETELY UNAWARE OF WHAT WENT ON IN VIETNAM," HEARD SAID. "THIS IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE HISTORY OF THIS COUNTRY."

FOR MORE INFORMATION CALL THE LIBRARY AT (760) 749-4686 OR VISITWWW.THEVIETNAMPHOTOS.COM.

FOR A SNEAK PEAK AT MORE IMAGES CLICK ON THROUGH THE LINK IN TIME.

Rancho Santa Fe media: Visit http://www.92067freepress.com

Dan weisman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 07:55:33 GMT

TELLING IT LIKE IT IS JOURNALISM AWARD-WISE

A little -- make that a lot -- of truth-telling needs to be done this week in terms of local media and journalism awards.

Dan Weisman of 92067 Rancho Santa Fe Free Press won the California Newspaper Publishers Association 2008 award for best local news coverage for work on the Witch Creek Fire. This is the TOP statewide journalism award. Nobody else around here won anything or has won anything like that.

Which brings us to this week's issue of The RSF Review, a headline, to wit:

"RSF Review wins slew of journalism awards, including national first place honor for last year’s fire coverage"

Folks, they cited the "IFPA" award for their fire coverage. Journalistically inept, they didn't identify what "IFPA" means.

This is the "Independent Free Papers of America". That is an advocacy group for "shopper" and "green sheet" publications. These are advertising-purely with a dash of calendars and stuff. So, the Review is competing with fellow shopping magazines . Appropriate, but this is not an actual journalism group and journalism award.

This is the top of the "IFPA" membership list, the group the Review claimed as its "national" journalism award arbiter.

Member Directory

Displaying Records 1 to 10 of 205

Ad Bargain

Address: Rt 453, PO Box 192, Smithmill, PA 16680

Ad Sack

Address: 3040 S. Padre Island Drive, Corpus Christi, TX 78468-8729

Ad-Delite

Address: 17 5th Ave., P.O. Box 548, Strum, WI 54770-054

Adventure Classifieds

Address: 622 S Minnesota Ave, Souix Falls , SD 57104

Consider the source when you consider how to spend your valuable online and viewership time. The Review lies about everything, especially journalism. We tell the truth. We won the actual award for fire coverage; they won a vanity award from a non-journalism group.

WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

In an article next to the faux awards announcement, "Professional audit shows..." Dex Allen, Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club member and vanity publisher, quotes someone saying the Circulation Verification Council (Oh, the other "CVC" code, of course) found "spectacular" that RSF Review reached 99.3 percent of RSF homes. Allen added: "We're thankful our superior editorial content has been recognized for what it is." SNL VOICES: REALLY? REALLY?

TRUTH SQUAD: VERIFYING CIRCULATION IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT, NOT A COMMENT ON EDITORIAL CONTENT. Yes, the Review reaches 99.3 percent of RSF mailboxes. And 99.2 percent of Reviews immediately are tossed in the trash. Have you been to the post office on a Saturday lately? That's what the Review reaches: nearby post office trash cans. Tired of having your mailboxes stuffed with junk mail? Contact the Review. They're responsible along with other junk mail advertisers.

As for fake commentary on number of people who read the paper vis-a-vis the circulation verification bureau. Hello. How do they verify that? THEY DON'T. Anybody who wastes their time mailing out newspapers to people who don't want them, who sends junk mail newspapers to 99 percent of the Zip code is "recognized" by the auditors paid to audit circulation. Waste your money mailing junk to everybody and you, too, can be recognized by people you pay, too.

But "superior editorial content"? Check the post office trash can Saturday for the public's commentary on that lie.

Bottom line: A newspaper that lies is not a newspaper. A newspaper that pretends to have quality, but is clueless fools only its own publisher and staff, not this community.

Another desperate, and dumb since it is easily verified, mis-claim trotted out to try to "verify", I mean represent, this rag as everything it isn't, an actual piece of journalism. Everybody in town is savvy to this except, apparently, a vanity publisher and his poorly conceived faux "product" that is an insult to the intelligent people of Rancho Santa Fe. Who even puts garbage like that on a front page and without a byline? Non-professionals play-acting as journalists. Hacks. Poseurs. Disgrace to our community.

We tell the truth here. You see the difference on each page. As we grow, we will reach throughout the community and become the news group of choice for actual readers. This, followed by community sponsors who want to benefit the community and advertisers who want to benefit their businesses and services by working with a credible journalistic source well-loved, appreciated, and actually read and viewed, by you, our friends, neighbors and contributors.